Lily Potter She's complicated
by Bookwormofallbooks
Summary: When Lily was born, it was a close call. When Lily was taken, it was a shock. When Lily came back, it was a nightmare. When Lily's first week of Hogwarts started... it was the start of an adventure. Follow her as she struggles in school and in life. A secret she must keep, she's been infected with Lycanthropy for years... Now she Must balance transformations and transfiguration.
1. Chapter 1: Unfortunate Happenings

Harry looked down at Ginny. Her face matched her fiery hair and she once again tried to push. A cry of anguish came from her lips. The St. Mungo's doctors around them were frantically trying to figure out what was wrong. Of course, the baby was already unexpected. Only 32 weeks into the pregnancy, the child was 8 weeks early, too many things could go wrong. The next 12 hours were horrible. Harry couldn't decide which was worse; Ginny's screams or, eventually, the absence of screams from the baby when she was born.

The child was alive and breathing and squirming but she didn't cry.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, trying to sit up to see their daughter as the doctors rushed the child away.

"It'll be okay" Harry said, trying to convince himself just as much as he was Ginny. Harry clutched Ginny's hand and they waited and waited.

As he sat in the stiff chair next to Ginny, Harry felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down to find James standing there with his big hazel eyes. Behind him, Albus stood shyly behind him, he looked upset.

"Where is she daddy?" James asked. Albus nodded furiously behind him.

Harry sighed, "We're still waiting boys"

The room held its breath, no one dared speak.

Ginny slipped in and out of consciousness, but stayed in good health.

The little room was dark in the night, the clock on the wall read 3:00 AM. Outside a full moon sparkled. This child would be different, that much was fate.

Ginny and Harry had been expecting and hoping for a daughter. Her name had been decided for a long time.

When the squirming bundle made her entrance, she ended up in Ginny's arms.

"Lily Luna Potter". Ginny said, letting the name roll off her tongue.

"She's beautiful" Ginny giggled. Harry leaned down and kissed Lily's small head.

"That she is" he said. He looked at his daughter. So small and fragile, but Harry could tell, she'd be the strongest of them all.

Lily had turned six only a few weeks ago. She stated repeatedly that she was overjoyed that her birthday was in the summer so that Teddy before he returned to hogwarts to start his fourth year. Lily had always loved the way he could change his face into animals, it was especially funny when he got stuck.

In was now the middle September and Lily was serving a grounding for sneaking into the broom shed in the yard and trying to fly off.

At four years old Lily had officially become the biggest prankster of her family, and the biggest trouble maker since the original James Potter.

That night, Lily laid down in her bed for the last time in a long time.

"We've been planning for months! We can't stop now!" Parkinson argued, "A few minor setbacks! So what? The plan still works"

The group lurked outside the Potter house in Godric's Hollow.

"We just go in, Grab the middle kid and get out" she said. The others around her nodded.

"Good, let's go" she hissed.

Ginny shot up at the sound of screams. Lily's screams.

"LILY!" she screamed as she fell out of bed her blankets tangling around her legs.

Harry bolted out the door with Ginny seconds behind him. Glass shattered in Lily's room as Harry and Ginny raised their wands and ran in. The last thing they saw was a hooded figure dragging Lily to the broken window and disapparating. Ginny screamed and ran to the window, pressing her hands against the shattered pane, the glass cutting into her palms. Harry ran to Ginny, holding her wordlessly.

When Lily woke up she was in a dark room that was stiflingly hot. She looked around and tried to stand but her legs buckled beneath her. She was weak and tired and her right shoulder throbbed horribly. Lily looked down to her shoulder and shrieked. A large werewolf bite bled onto the splintered wooden floor.

Lily jumped when the lock in the door clicked and a person walked in. A man who looked a little older than her father walked in and smiled at Lily; the sight disturbed her.

"Well, if it isn't the sweet little Potter girl". The man pulled out his wand and pointed it at her. Her legs trembled beneath her as she closed her eyes and hoped it was all a dream. No such luck existed. He gave her one last terrible smile before yelling,

"Crucio!"

"We were supposed to grab the middle boy, Albus or whatever his name is. But in a way, this is better, the youngest, Potters little girl. How early did you say she was born?" Parkinson asked, watching the door to the attic, screams echoed around her.

"32 weeks" the man in the cloak said, "We have to be careful, she can't die yet". Parkinson nodded.

"Have Raphael take care of the rest of her visit" Parkinson said. The cloaked man's eyes widened.

"Are you sure? He generally ends up killing his victims, _accidentally_ of course." Parkinson growled,

"Just have it done!" she stomped away.

It had been 3 weeks as a prisoner in the stiflingly hot room. Lily hurt all over but she didn't cry, if she cried then she'd be admitting that she was scared, and she had to stay strong, for her father, for her mother.

Lily had been alone for the whole day. Her stomach screamed for food and her mouth had been dry for ages. The lock in the door clicked and Lily sat up, praying for food or water.

Instead it was the man that normally came, and another.

"Ms. Potter, this is a friend of mine, he's going to be watching you today". The other man was sickly skinny and had pasty white skin. He smiled at her, all the people had smiled. But the smiles were all foreboding of a pain worse than death.

"Let's begin" he snarled.

When Lily woke up her entire body ached like she'd been run over by a nundus. The woman who had abducted her stood above her, holding a long thin chain.

"Your father ruined everything for me, so I'm going to ruin everything for him! But I'm done using magic, you deserve something a bit more physical" She raised the chain and brought it down on Lily's back.

Lily lost count of days after that. She knew it was more than a week but soon she stopped trying to count. She just wanted to go home. Not caring anymore, she cried. All the tears that had burned her eyes ran down her cheeks and made dirty puddles on the floor. There wasn't any hope left, she was going to die.

When Lily woke up again it was from pain.

"Hurry" she heard a voice say, "They're coming to get her!" They bound her hands and mouth tightly so she couldn't move of cry out.

Her head was fuzzy but she remembered the man saying something about someone coming to get her. Was it her father? Oh, she hoped so. Somewhere in the house, she heard a duel commence. When it was over Lily held her breath, waiting to hear her father's voice. But she didn't. "LILY!" A voice screamed. Lily let her breath go,

Lily tried to call but her voice was muffled by the thick gag. Lily tried to push out the gag but to no avail.

"LILY!" a new voice called. Hope and desperation fueled her as she banged her heels against the floor. Splinters pressed into her feet and her heels began to bleed.

The voice called her again and she slammed her heels into the floor more ferociously. It didn't make much sound and Lily began to lose hope. The door handle was tried and Lily tried again to cry out through her gag.

"Nothing" a voice said.

"You checked?" a different one asked.

"Locked, but there's no sound" the first answered.

"I thought for sure she'd be here" The first voice said sadly. Finaly, Lily remembered where she'd heard in before. It was her Uncle, Charlie. She hadn't seen him in so long.

With a final effort, Lily bit into the gag, ripping the faberic and stretching it out of her mouth.

"Uncle Charlie?" Lily squeaked.

Within seconds the door blew inwards and Charlie appeared.

"Hey kiddo!" He said rushing to her side. Next, a man Lily didn't recognize came in, and Lily could see a third guarding the door. Charlie released her bonds and scooped Lily into his arms as she grunted from pain. The four of them ran from the building. The last thing Lily saw before she blacked out was Charlie's face smiling sadly at her.


	2. Chapter 2: Bitten and Broken

"Harry!" Ginny's voice ripped Harry from his rest. He looked outside. It was still dark. He had been sleeping in Ginny's old bed in the burrow. The whole family had been staying there for the holidays, but it had been sobering without Lily present, this was the first night Harry hadn't slept in his office at the ministry. "What?" he asked, righting himself.

"They found Lily!" she said. "You slept in your shoes?" Ginny asked him.

"Not now!" Harry yelled, bolting from the room, Ginny following closely behind her.

"They're at St. Mungo's intensive care," Ginny told Harry as they climbed into the fireplace. Clutching the floo powder, they disappeared in the flames.

Charlie!" Ginny shouted as she ran with Harry to the doors that lead to the Emergency Ward.

"This way!" he said and led them through the doors to just outside a room.

"The doctors are patching her up right now, they said we could go in about an hour". Harry nodded and sat down hard in a bench opposite the door.

"Charlie?" Harry asked. The man looked at Harry,

"You're lucky Lily's alive," he said. He turned up his arms to show Harry. Ginny covered her mouth and let out a messy sob. Harry almost fell over. Caking Charlie's arms was blood. A lot of blood.

It had been a long two hours in the waiting room.

Everyone was waiting for a doctor to come out and tell them she would be okay. Hermione, Ron, and Teddy had joined them a few minutes after they arrived. McGonagall seemed ready to kill whoever had done this to her precious grandchild. She had arrived the moment she heard that Lily was safe. McGonagall had decided when the Weasley/Potter children were born she would be playing a part in their childhood. This decision had been proven true by Lily's summer when she was 2.

McGonagall had shown up and the Burro and taken every child out to, what should have been a breakfast picnic. She returned past 11:00 P.M and never explained herself, nor why the children were caked with mud, sticks, and a substance not even Luna could identify, or why they all giggled for a whole month after, whenever anyone said the word, "Kitty". After that they all began calling her Nana Minnie.

Harry began to question whether McGonagall had gone insane, or if she was simply toned down during the school year.

A nurse came out of Lily's room and made her way over to the group. "She's awake, and she says she's up for visitors," she said. Harry clutched Ginny as they made their way to the room that held their daughter.

Ginny gasped and covered her mouth when she walked into Lily's room. Her hyper, energetic, happy, outgoing, prankster daughter was wrapped in bandages that she was already bleeding through and had a look in her eyes that Ginny knew all too well. The look of torture and pain. She'd seen it in Harry's eyes constantly, and with Ron and Neville and Hermione, even in her own eyes. But to see it in the eyes of a 4-year-old girl was heartbreaking.

"Hey Lils," She said as she walked in, her and Harry sat on either side of her.

The family reunion was more than Lily could have hoped for. Tears were shed and Lily couldn't get enough of her family and friends. After all, she had believed she would never see them again only yesterday. The happiness was cut short when a doctor walked in and said the worst 5 words in the world, "I have some bad news".

"What?" Ron asked when nobody spoke, the doctor looked down at his wrung hands. "We noticed when you brought her in that she had an old injury on her shoulder. We wanted to be sure before we did anything so we took a few blood tests and I just got the results back". The doctor looked around at the people in the room. His eyes lingered on Lily. "She's been infected with Lycanthropy"


	3. Chapter 3: Preparations

Chapter 3

Five years later… ****

Lily woke up from her nightmare and took a few minutes to lie in bed and calm herself down. In the dream, she had been standing on the platform, the Hogwarts express pulling away without her. She ran after it but it was to fast. She had missed her train, now she'd never go to Hogwarts. Lily was beyond nervous for the day. September first, the day the youngest Potter/Weasley child would go to Hogwarts. Lily got up out of bed and got dressed. Long sleeves so that her arms couldn't be seen, blue jeans so her legs were covered too. Her trunk was packed up and ready to go. Suddenly, the walls crumbled in around, death eaters surrounded Lily on all sides. She was trapped, surrounded, going to die!

Lily screamed herself awake. She lay on the hard cobblestone floor in the basement of number 12 Grimauld place. Teddy's house, her dad had owned it previously but after Teddy had graduated Hogwarts her dad had given it to him. Teddy had turned the old dark house into a well lit, less creepy, completely refurbished and livable in, house. It was still HQ for the order and had many protective enchantments around it; it was also Lily's transformation place as it had been for nearly 5 years. The safe room had been an addition for the benefit of Lily. It was almost a month before Lily would be off to Hogwarts and today the whole Weasley/Potter clan was going out to get school supplies. Teddy or Vic were coming along because, who wouldn't want to go the Diagon Alley?. But Teddy was taking her to a separate shop today. A shop Lily desperately needed to go to. A shop that only people like Ted and Lily were allowed to go into. You had to be afflicted with some sort of Lycanthropy to get into the shop. It sold items and potions for those affected by Lycanthropy. Bill had been running errands for her for years, when Ted had been in school. Lily prefered Ted's company, so he agreed to take her. Lily walked up the stairs of Grimauld place and into the kitchen. She was starving and could hardly keep her eyes open. Her whole body felt like superheated feathers. She felt hot and fluttery, like she needed to sit still but she couldn't; it killed. When she got to the kitchen it was packed. Of course! Lily rolled her eyes at herself. Everyone gathered at Grimauld place before and after Diagon alley trips. Then she smelled it, Grandma's cooking. Molly made the best food. No question about it. Normally Teddy made her breakfast and then Lily remade it so that it was digestible. As Lily looked around the kitchen she was scooped up into a ball from behind. She instantly knew, "Teddy!" she twisted herself so she was facing him, "What are you doing?" she asked, giggling. "Hugging you," he said with a grin on his lovely face. His lovely face then changed into a pig's snout and he began attempting to give her a kiss with it. Vic was at the long table watching Ted and Lily "Pig out" as Fred had put it. Vic found him far too sarcastic for a fifteen-year-old. James were over by the fireplace reading a magazine about broomsticks, Luis was complaining to his mother in French, Dom was stuffing her face, Rox and Fred were having a full-on wrestling match as none of the adults were watching, Albus had his nose stuffed in a book, Rose was reading the book over Al's shoulder. Lucy and Molly were arguing about something they had found in the daily prophet and all of the adults sat or stood around the long table, discussing, eating, and laughing. Hugo and Vic were the only younger ones sitting at the table and eating whilst not doing anything else. Teddy set Lily down and went to the kitchen. Lily made her way over to the table and sat down. She grabbed a slice of pumpkin bread, a jammed toast, and a flapjack and began eating. For such a tiny little thing she sure could eat. After she finished her plate she then grabbed a sausage link, two hard boiled eggs, 4 strips of bacon, a biscuit smothered in gravy and another slice of pumpkin bread. Hugo and Vic stared in amazement at all the food that was quickly disappearing into Lily's mouth. Even Dom ended up pausing her own impressive eating habits to gawk at her. From the kitchen Ron and Hermione came out and sat at the table. Ron sat next to Lily and Hermione sat next to Hugo across the table. "You eat like your Uncle Ron" Hermione said to Lily. Ron stifled a laugh and Lily grabbed a cinnamon bun from the tray Ron had just brought out. Down the table a ways Ginny sat. The conversation was reminding her of her wedding night and how much food had been there, and how much of it Ron had eaten. Ron and Hermione had danced that night and it wasn't hard to see how much they loved each other.

Ginny and Harry had been sitting at their table, eating leftover cake and talking about Ginny's next Harpies game when Ron and Hermione sat across from them. "Hey sis," Ron had said. Ginny giggled and hiccuped, the champagne had been wonderful afterall. Harry smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Ron gave Harry a look that said, "Help". Harry made a confused face. Ron nodded towards Hermione and patted his pocket. Harry rolled his eyes. Ron wanted to propose to Hermione. Harry motioned for him to do it. Ron's eyes popped and he shook his head minutely so Hermione wouldn't notice. Under the table Harry kicked him. Ron's shoulders slumped, but he had a smile. The confidence in Ron's face fell away as he looked at Hermione and opened his mouth to speak, what came out was the cutest disaster Ginny had ever seen. "Hermione, you're a girl" Ron had said. Hermione looked like she was genuinely concerned for Ron's metal health. Harry put his head in his hands. Ginny wanted to smack her head into the table. It was the Yule Ball all over again. "Yes?" Hermione said, like she wasn't sure of her answer. "Well do you think you'd want to" Ron paused, "You know" Ron nodded towards Harry and Ginny. Ginny had never seen Hermione so clueless. "Are you trying to ask me to dance again?" Hermione asked. Ron hung his head, "No," he said, Hermione smiled at him and grabbed his hand, "Then what?" she asked. Ron sneaked his hand into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "You know," Ron said, holding it up for Hermione, "Go get married" Ginny had been so proud of her brother. Ron had gone and gotten up the courage to ask her before somebody else like Hermione had told him too. The family flooded out of the kitchen and into the main room where the fireplace sat cozy in the wall. One at a time, each and every one of them disappeared into the flames. Diagon alley was one of Lily's favorite places. The book shops, the WWW store, she even remembered having to wait outside every time one of her brothers got their wand. This time she would be the one getting a wand. But first, robes. Madam Maxims robe shop was busy so Lily had to stand for a fitting for quite a while. After robes Lily went to Flourish and Blotts for books. The errand had been tedious and heavy. On their way to Ollivander's Lily could hardly control her excitement. Only one thing broke her concentration on the way there. A new shop called 'Feathers and Fuzz' had baby owls out on display and Lily almost shrieked at the sight of the cutest creature she had ever seen. A baby tawny owl. Lily squealed and ran over to the cage. The owls eyes bulged and it shrieked as well, greeting Lily at the cage door. It made instant eye contact and Harry knew they would be leaving that day with the tiny creature. "Daddy?" Lily said, not taking her eyes from the cage. "May I please adopt this owl?" she asked. The fun part was Ginny also thought this tiny owl was the cutest thing in the world. She gave Harry a look that said, 'If you don't buy the owl, you are dead to me'. So Harry walked into the shop.

When they got to Ollivander's Harry had to promise twice that he would keep an eye on the new owl. As Lily walked into the wand shop, her mood shifted. She was in a zone now. Ever since she was little she had seen all of her cousins and her brothers walk into this shop and come out with the most magical item a witch or wizard could own, now it was her turn. Mr. Ollivander's head popped up from behind his desk and startled Lily. "Miss Potter" he said, his attention fully shifting down to Lily. "Hello Mr. Ollivander" Lily said. She had met him once before and he had been amazingly kind to her. "How do feel today Ms. Potter?" Ollivander asked her. "I'm exhausted, but I don't think I've ever been more excited for anything" Mr. Ollivander smiled at her. "I was recently cleaning up the back of my shop to make room for a new shelf of wands when I spotted a very old one in the back. I wouldn't have seen it if the box weren't so bright. But I knew I would need it soon, otherwise it would have stayed lost. And low and behold the day after Lily Potter walks into my shop, looking for a wand". Ollivander circled around the counter and leaned extremely close to Lily's face, "Want to give it whirl?" he said, barely above a whisper. Lily nodded, "I'd love to try" she said. Ollivander gave Lily a toothy grin and darted to the back of the shop. When he returned he held a long oval box that was bright blue. He opened the lid and offered the bottom half of the box to Lily. The moment her fingers brushed the wood a fresh breeze blew in through the door accompanied by the smell of honey and citrus. Lily looked up at Ollivander and he smiled down at her. "Weeping willow wood, 12 inches and a core of Unicorn hair. Good for strong spells. An odd combination, one would think it would never work yet here it is, matched with the sweet Miss Potter." Lily looked down at her wand and was star struck by its beauty. The willow wood was light tan and all over, little designs were carved revealing a darker colored center, its grip was small but firm and had a checkered pattern on it. Lily adored it.

"Can I see?" Harry asked. Lily showed him all the little markings and the way the grip perfectly fit in her hand. Ginny thought it matched her perfectly. After they left Lily tugged on Harry's shirt. "What is it Lils?" he asked. "Can you keep it for now?" she asked. "I don't want to loose it and I've got no place to put it right now. I can have it before the train" Lily handed her father her wand and hugged him. When the group reached the junction of Knockturn Alley, Teddy grabbed Lily's hand. "I'll see you back at the house dad!" Teddy yelled as Harry walked away. Then Teddy and Lily began to walk into the dreary road. The store itself was freaky. Lily began to wish she had kept her wand with her. If only to know that she had some form of defense. But Teddy was there, he was the best and curses and charms. When the two of them walked through the door a tingle went through Lily's body. Ted held her hand tighter. "Mr. Lupin, how are you?" A man behind the desk of the store asked. Lily hid behind Teddy, she was still quite small and able to disapear behind Ted's slender form. The man was skinny and pale and covered in moving tattoos that intrigued Lily. Her shyness made her want to hide but her curiosity made her want to look at the tattoos up close. "Lily, this is Reggie" Teddy said, pulling her out from behind him. Sure she was eleven and stronger than anyone expected but right now she was frightened. "He's a nice man, he went to school with me, he was three years above me but we talked a lot about Lycanthropy". Teddy's words made Lily feel better. "Reg, this is Lily, my god-sister, she needs a year's supply of wolfsbane". Reggie nodded, "And just the usual for you?" he asked Ted. They nodded. Reggie disappeared into the back of the shop and came back with three small chests. "As usual each chest has three spare's with double doses; those bottles are marked with red ribbons all the normal ones have got blue ribbons". Reggie put the chests on the counter. Teddy put two small piles of galleons on the counter. "Thanks for your business!" Reggie called out as they left.

At home Lily couldn't get enough of her DA book. She was glued to the pages that talked about other species and spells to avoid. It spoke of dragons and evil wizards. It spoke of great wizards and legends of magic. She loved it. Hogwarts, A history, was next in her reading marathon. Lily could hardly peel her eyes away. Her herbology book, written by her Uncle Neville, was extraordinarily descriptive and well written. Her level 1 charms book was her favorite though. Written by Hermione Granger-Weasley, it went beyond specificity and taught everything needed to become a master of spells for first years. She already had most of the books she had needed given that her family knew most of the authors or she was related to them. And her copy of Fantastic beasts and where to find them was exclusively signed by her godfathers grandfather, Newt Scamander, whom she had only met once. With all her books the month leading up to September 1st seemed to go so fast. Lily's owl, whom she had named, Fox, due to the red and white coloration of his feathers had only made one successful delivery so far, it had been to the downstairs kitchen and he'd gotten lost twice. He was very proud of himself. Lily had told her parents that she'd use James's owl, a spectacle owl appropriately named, Spec, to send letters home. Albus's red owl, Spice, disliked everyone but Albus so Lily preferred to leave him alone. The days grew closer and Lily was practically bursting with excitement… And fear. The 13th, 14th, and 15th were all full moons. It was a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so she wouldn't be too tired for classes. But she'd still have to go through it. 


	4. Chapter 4: At Long Last

Chapter 4

The platform bustled with parents and students and Lily hung close to her mother. Lily's wand was in her pocket and her trunk and Fox were already on the train. Lily wanted to get on the train but she was terrified. What house would she go to? Who would she sit with? How would she score in her classes?

Lily looked up at her mother with tears in her eyes. Ginny looked on the verge of crying herself. Ginny pulled her daughter into a hug,

"You'll be fine Lily" Ginny whispered, though it sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well.

"What about my...affliction?" Lily asked.

"Darling, we've spoken to Minnie, she has a plan" Ginny smiled at her baby girl, her daughter.

"I'm going to miss you Lily," Ginny said as she pulled Lily in for one last hug. Lily then hugged her father and got on the train. She was hardly 5" and barely 80 pounds, but she was stronger than any of them could have ever predicted.

Lily waved as the train pulled away from the station. She waved for as long as she could and when she stopped she simply stood by the hall window watching the scenery zip by. Finally Lily decided it would be wise to find a seat.

She passed compartments full of people she knew yet she still passed them. She wanted to find a compartment with less people, she enjoyed silence and relished the chance to sit and think. Finally she passed a totally empty compartment. She went in and sat down.

The view was the best Lily had ever seen. She was quite alone in the little room and considered going somewhere different when a boy her age leaned into the compartment and asked,

"Is anyone sitting there?" He asked nodding to the seat across from Lily. She shook her head,

"Nope. Nobody's sitting anywhere except me"

The boy smiled and sat down across from her.

"I'm Chase" the boy introduced himself.

"Lily," Lily said. The boy smiled,

"Pretty name," he told her. Lily smiled politely.

"Are you a first year?" Chase asked. Lily nodded, afraid if she spoke she would squeak as she did on occasion.

"Me too," he said. "I'm so excited!" he said. Lily could tell. Chase was already wearing his robes, Lily should be changing as well.

"I'm going to change into my robes" Lily said. She grabbed her bag,

"I'll leave so you can. I just stand outside" Chase said, he left the compartment and Lily closed the small curtain. She then changed as quickly as she could. "Done" Lily said, peeping her head out. Chase walked back in. You change fast" he said. Lily smiled, "I've always had to. My brothers are impatient" Chase laughed at that.

"How many?" He asked.

"Sorry?" Lily asked. She didn't quite understand the question,

"Brothers, I mean," Chase said sitting back down.

"Three, James, Albus and Teddy, James is a fifth year, Al's in third, Teddy graduated two years ago. Then I've got cousins that are all mixed through the years" Chase smiled, "How many cousins?" he asked,

"Eight, plus five friends, we spend so much time together. So, 13 other people that I've grown to call family" Lily said. Chase's eyes went wide. "Big family" he said. "You got no idea. I've even got another one, but she graduated last year". Chase smiled. "I've just got my little sister. I hope she'll come here next year. Our parents aren't magical so I'm not sure". Lily nodded. Her grandmother had been in a similar situation with her great aunt. They sat in silence for a few more minutes until Lily heard a familiar voice,

"Mind if I sit Lils?" Lily turned around and her heart sped up like it always did around Lysander.

"Sure Ly," she said.

"Chase, this is one of my best friends Lysander, Lysander, this is my new friends Chase". The two shook hands.

"Will Lorcan be stopping by as well?" Lily asked.

"Nah," Lysander said, scooting a little closer to Lily, "The compartment got to weird for me so I left". Lily rolled her eyes.

"James?" she asked.

"And Fred" Lysander added.

"Are you cousins?" Chase asked,

"No, Ly's my godmother's son," Lily said.

"Who's Fred?" Chase asked.

"He's a cousin. A crazy one" Lily mumbled

Ly giggled.

"Are you a first year too?" Chase asked Lysander, "Nope, second. Lily's the youngest of the whole clan".

Chase laughed, "Clan?".

As Lysander and Chase talked about all sorts of things, Lily became distracted as she often did. She leaned until her nose was almost touching the window and watched the scenery zoom by. Lily got lost in her thoughts. She wondered about things she doubted were even real. As she watched through the window she listened as well. The train on the tracks made a deep noise. Every so often Lily heard a click of the track. Click... Click... Click... Cl-

"Lily?" Chase asked,

"What?" Lily snapped back from her other world.

"I asked if you had a pet," he said

"Oh, yeah, I just got an owl, I named him Fox" she explained.

Chase nodded, "Cool"

The boys went back to chatting and Lily was left with her thoughts again.

She wondered about her family. Specifically about the recent conundrum that had arisen with Rose and Scorpius. Albus and Scorpius were best friends, they were constantly together all year round. And Scorpius had told her a secret, he liked Rose. Before that Rose had told Lily a secret, she like Scorpius. Lily would roll her eyes at how clueless they were. Al, Scorp and Rose were the next golden trio. At least that's what Lily thought. Either that or Lily, Ly, and Hugo, that's what Teddy had said. Lily really didn't know.

The sun outside began to set and Lily looked as the train pulled around another bend, revealing a beautiful lake. The water perfectly reflected the sunset.

"Guys, look at this!" Lily said to Chase and Lysander. The three crammed together and saw the lake.

"It's beautiful," Chase said. The trolley lady came by once more to see if anyone wanted any sweets but the three of them were far too anxious to buy a thing. The sun had set and it was dark when the train, stopped.

"Are we really here?" Lily asked Lysander. He nodded. Lily squealed.

The door to the compartment slid open,

"Are you ready?" Dominique's black hair waved as she stuck it into their compartment.

"Dom!" Lily said, "I can't believe I'm finally here"

She smiled. Chase stared at the newcomer, whether it was out of awe of her beauty of the fact that she was leaning so far in that if she let go, she'd fall flat, she wasn't sure.

"I gotta go help some newbies. I'll see you later Lils, Scamander" Dom paused and looked Chase up and down,

"New friend" she dubbed him. And with that, she swept away from the compartment.

"Wow," Chase said,

"She's my cousin too," Lily said.

"You should see her mom," Lysander said jokingly. It was true though. Fleur was breathtakingly beautiful as an adult, no doubt about it, she passed it down to her kids. When they all got to the platform Lily felt a person on each side of her take her hands.

"Hey there Lils," Al said in her left ear, "You exited?" James asked in the other. Lily smiled,

"You have no idea," she said.

Chase turned around to see where Lily had gone off to and saw her holding hands with two older boys. They exchanged a few words and as someone called them away they each planted a kiss on each of her cheeks. Lily smiled and practically skipped over to Chase, who asked,

"More cousins?" he asked.

Lily shook her head,

"Brothers," she said.

"FIRS' YEARS THIS WAY!" Lily heard. Lily bid goodbye to Lysander and joined the other first years that had gathered around Hagrid. "FOLLOW ME!" he shouted to be heard over the crowd.

The boats were incredible, big enough to fit 4 kids or 1 Hagrid. Lily sat down on the back of her boat, Chase sat to her side. The two others that sat were girls that looked so alike Lily wondered if they were identical twins.

A little ways off, Lily could see Roxanne and Hugo seated next to each other in a different boat.

The boats shoved off and they were on the water. The crescent moon shone down on the water. A perfectly clear sky to welcome them to school. Then the castle came into view.

There was a collective gasp around all the boats. Hogwarts was, by far, the most beautiful place Lily had ever seen. Lights in and around it shone brighter than the stars. Lily wanted to know how big it really was, because right now it seemed stellar. Trees around it were framing it and Lily could just barely see the tip of a Quidditch hoop. Lily sighed, she loved this school already and she wasn't even halfway there.

By the time Lily was a few minutes from shore, she was ready to jump out of the boat and swim. But she restrained herself from doing anything stupid.

The boats crunched the gravel on the ground as they arrived. They all jumped from the boats and followed Hagrid up the path towards the castle.

"Good evening" a serene crisp voice greeted them as they walked up the stairs into the castle. Lily wanted to run forward and hug her Nana Minnie but she resisted.

"I am headmistress Minerva McGonagall and I would like to welcome all of you to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Now, in a few moments you will walk through these doors into the great hall to be sorted into your houses, but first, allow me to explain". McGonagall took a deep breath smiled a bit and began,

"Thousands of years ago there were four great witches and wizards. Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin."

"How alliterate of their parents," Chase mumbled. Lily had to suppress her giggle.

McGonagall continued,

"They had the idea of starting a school in which those given magical abilities could train and learn. Today there are four houses you have the option of being sorted into, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The ceremony decides which house you belong in based on what it can tell from you. Each house is different. While you are here, your house will be like your family, any triumphs will win you points, any rule breaking and you will lose points. A teacher will return momentarily to escort you into the great hall for the sorting"

Professor McGonagall swept away into the hall. Lily was beyond excited, her brothers had talked for years about Hogwarts but they had never revealed any secrets. Lily had no clue how she would be sorted, or how it would work.

After the battle, Hogwarts had taken a full year to be rebuilt. With workers coming in every day to repair the damage that had been done.

It was barely a minute before Professor Slughorn came out and said,

"Please follow me into the great hall". He then turned and led the students in.

The Great Hall lived up to the name, the enchanted ceiling, the candles, the brilliant decor.

Walking by the Gryffindor table, James caught Lily's eye and winked at her. A few girls at his table gave Lily the evil eye. A little further on and the same happened with Luis and the Hufflepuff table. Girls seemed to like the male side of her family. Dom waved quite noticeably from Slytherin table and earned a few laughs. Even a smile from professor McGonagall, who was standing in front of the teachers table with a stool and... A hat?

Lily was a little more than confused. It was just a hat! Then it started to sing.

Lily only caught the last few words of the hats song,

"One thing's for sure, this year won't be a bore. For something is coming to Hogwarts, something we've never seen before."

She should have been paying better attention...

Lily was now extremely concerned about the fact that she hadn't listened to the hats song.

"Now" McGonagall said loudly, "When I call your name please come up and have a seat on the stool, I will then place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses".

McGonagall began calling names,

"Arker, Judith" she called. The hat fell over the girl's eyes and in a few seconds it called out "Ravenclaw!" A round of applause went up around the room.

"Casper, Chase" Lily watched as he sat on the stool and the hat fell onto his head. It was on there for a while before the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily clapped and watched him take his seat.

"Garret, Kent"... "Slytherin". Applause. And so it went. Name after name until...

"Potter, Lily"

As she stepped forward Lily could hear a few murmurs go up. When she turned to sit down she caught Hugo's eye before the hat slipped over her eyes.

Lily waited for the hat to shout out a house but nothing happened, Lily counted to ten before the hat spoke in her head, " _Well you really are a difficult one, aren't you?_ "

" _What do you mean?_ " Lily thought.

"I _mean, I can't place you. You would fit so perfectly in every house_ ". Lily was scared now. What did it mean? Would she not have a house?

" _Do you have a preference as to where to go?_ " the hat asked her. Lily thought for a moment before replying,

" _Wherever you see me going, I'll go there_ " The hat waited a few more seconds before screaming out, "HUFFLEPUFF!".

Lily couldn't have been more happy about the decision the hat had made. The great hall thundered with applause, the strongest claps coming from her family. Lily hurried over to the Hufflepuff table where she sat directly next to Alice Longbottom. She gave her a big hug and then they turned to watch the rest of the sorting. After a while it was Roxanne, she sat in the stool and the hat went over her eyes.

"Gryffindor!" it yelled. Lily smiled. Typical Roxanne, she'd always wanted Gryffindor.

Scorpius, Frank, James, and Fred were all in Gryffindor.

Then Hugo got into Gryffindor as well.

Lily lost focus on the ceremony and began to look at the staff table. In potions was Professor Slughorn, Care of magical creatures was Professor Hagrid, of course, Divination was Firenze, a centaur, Lily only knew because her father talked about him sometimes. Herbology was Uncle- sorry- Professor Neville.

Professor McGonagall had refused to stop teaching Transfiguration after she was promoted to headmistress so she taught that. Lily had no idea about the other teachers. Her attention was drawn back to the sorting by the sudden silence and murmurs that had followed her only moments ago. A girl with light blonde curly hair and fair china skin was walking up to the stool.

"Why is everyone whispering?" Lily asked Alice softly.

"I'm not sure" she said. The girl didn't seem to register the whispers as she sat down on the stool. The hat certainly didn't take any time deciding where she belonged, the moment the fabric touched her head the hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!". The table seemed to only give a half-hearted round of applause. Lily, on the other hand, slammed her hands together so hard and so fast she went numb at the fingers. The pretty young girl noticed Lily's enthusiastic applause and sat down next to her.

"Hi," Lily said to the girl, "Sorry I didn't' hear you name when the Professor called, what might it be?" Lily asked. The girl smiled at Lily,

"I'm Destiny Yare," she said.

"Lily Potter," Lily said. Destiny seemed pained as she shook Lily's hand.

"Now that the sorting all done I think we should eat yes?" McGonagall asked. The hall responded in a round of cheers and applause. Suddenly the plates filled themselves up with every kind of food imaginable. Lily stacked her plate high and began eating. If there was anything in the world better than Molly's cooking, it was Hogwarts food. Lily noticed people from different tables moving around and sitting at other tables.

"What's that about Alice?" Lily asked.

"People are allowed to move around the tables to say hi to friends and greet newcomers, that sort of thing, they just have to be back in their seats by the end of the meal". Alice said. Lily nodded. Then behind her suddenly Lily felt Lysander's arms wrap around her waist.

"Hey Ly!" Lily giggled.

"I'm so happy you're here!" he said.

"Get a room," James said behind him. Lily smiled at her brother.

"Shut up Jamie"

"Don't call me Jaimie," he said,

"Don't make fun" Lily retorted.

Lily ate and talked and was temporarily abducted my Dominique, Lorcan, and Albus, and dragged over to Slytherin table. It was one of the best dinners Lily had ever had. Eventually, Lily made her way back to the Hufflepuff table and again, sat next to Destiny.

"You've got a big family," Destiny said to her as they began dessert.

"Yep" Lily said, "They can be a tad crazy". When the meal was over the whole house followed their head boy and girl to the common room. Hufflepuff down in the dungeons. It was right next to the kitchens in fact. The prefects showed how to tap the barrels to get into the common room and lead the students in.

To say the least, Lily felt at home. The whole common room was the coziest, warmest, sweetest, homiest, best smelling, softest, most gentle room Lily had ever been in.

Little to say she loved it. Lily never wanted to leave.

"Wow," Lily heard Destiny say next to her.

"Yeah" Lily agreed. The pictures around the room moved and laughed and talked to the first years, welcoming them to Hufflepuff.

"Hello children!" A gentle voice said by the door, some student shrieked, some jumped, but the big ghost jiggled with laughter.

"I'm the fat friar," he said. Lily smiled. She loved Hufflepuff.


	5. Chapter 5: New Friends and Old Enemies

"You can call me Des," Destiny said, "My full name is kinda weird".

Lily smiled, "You don't know weird until you meet my godmother,"

The feast had ended almost an hour ago, unable to sleep, the girl's dormitory had become a giant meet and greet.

Lily and Destiny sat on Lily's bed talking.

"How weird can she be?" Des asked,

"Have you ever heard of a witch named Luna Lovegood-Scamander?" Des's eyes popped.

"The quibbler lady?" She asked, "Is she as weird as her?"

Lily smiled and shook her head,

"She is her," Lily said.

Des laughed, "Really?" she managed between giggles. Lily nodded vigorously.

"Really. You know the boy that came up and hugged me and the other boy that looked like him that dragged me over to Slytherin table?" Des nodded,

"Yeah" Lily leaned closer, "Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, they're her kids" Des giggled.

"You guys look close," Des said. Lily blushed,

"Lysander and I have gotten along forever, Lorcan is a bit more logical, he's great but I've always gotten along with Lysander. Once, Luna and Rolf took me on one of their excursions to watch Trolls. It was a week of camping and amazingness".

Des giggled, "So you like him?" she asked, "Lysander I mean," Lily turned bright red,

"I never said that," she protested.

"It's not hard to miss," she said. Lily blushed more and the two of them laughed.

"I'm glad I found you," Des said, "I was afraid I wouldn't have any friends"

Lily looked at Des, "Me too" she said,

"But we found each other so I think we'll be fine" Des smiled.

Out of the blue, a fellow first-year plopped down on the edge of Lily's bed.

"Hello," she said brightly, her long brown hair clung to her nightgown with static and her bright blue eyes made you wonder if she was producing the electricity.

"Just wanted to introduce myself since we'll be rooming together for the next 7 years" she rambled, "I'm Delilah Richards, you can call me Lilah if you want," she hadn't paused for a breath since she started and Lily was starting to wonder if was always like this or if it was the excitement of the first night.

"Are you a Weasley?" she asked suddenly, turning to Lily.

"What?" Lily had been startled by the question.

"Your hair," Lilah explained, "My parents told me that most Weasleys have red hair and that there'd be a fair amount of Weasley at Hogwarts"

"Didn't you hear her get sorted?" Des asked politely.

"Not really, I was in the back and everyone around me was chatty. I did hear the name Weasley though," Lilah spoke so quickly it was difficult for Lily to catch all the words.

"Well, my mum's a Weasley, the name you heard could have been one of my cousins, Hugo or Roxanne," Lily started, she was cut off by Lilah.

"Wait, wait, wait… If your mum is a Weasley, that means she's Ginevra Weasley, which means your dad is Harry Potter!" Lilah had shouted so now the girls on Lily's bed had the full attention of the other 2 girls, who had been talking about their cats.

"Erm, yeah, he is" Lily mumbled. The whole dorm was gathered on or near Lily's bed.

"What's it like?" Lilah asked, "You know, having Harry Potter as a dad?" She had leaned uncomfortably close the Lily.

"Same as having anyone else as a dad, I guess" Lily said shyly. She didn't like it when people asked that question. It wasn't like her dad was an omnipotent being that made life suddenly incredible. Her dad was amazing, he was kind and sweet and loving, so Lily had always supposed she had a better dad than others. But that was what a lot of people thought. Most people thought that their Mum or Dad was the best, that didn't make it true. There was no way to measure the greatness of a parent because the differing opinions.

"Isn't he the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" one of the other girls asked.

"Yeah," Lily said "He helps a lot of people" she smiled.

There was a collective, "Cool" around the room.

After dodging a few more intrusive questions, they decided to turn in for the night.

"Goodnight Lily," Des said as she climbed into her bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Goodnight Des" Lily whispered, and she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

When Lily woke up her first worry was that she would miss her classes, then she noticed that the sun itself was hardly up. Everyone else in the room was still sleeping. Lily got up and dressed silently, then left the room. In the common room a few of the older students were awake, talking. Lily left the common room and began to wander around. As she walked she thought. She wondered how Hugo was, brand new in his own dormitory in Gryffindor tower. And Roxanne in her own dormitory right across from him.

Lily wondered if they were awake yet, she wondered if any of her family was, James would know. Teddy had had the Marauders map when he had attended Hogwarts, then when he graduated he gave it to James, Albus had the cloak. But her father had never given her any of his precious family heirlooms. Even the mirror Sirius had given him was locked away in an old desk drawer.

Lily realized she had forgotten her school bag in the dormitory and made her way back to the common room. She made her back up the stairs into the chambers and silently fetched her bag. She had packed it with everything she needed the night before. She had also memorized her schedule for the day. Lily liked to plan ahead.

As she was leaving Lily heard Des whisper,

"Good morning".

Lily smiled, "Good morning, I'm going down to the great hall, I'll see you there,"

Lily left the room and once again started making her way to the great hall. When she got there she walked over to Hufflepuff table and sat. Breakfast wasn't served yet, so Lily pulled out her quill, ink and a piece of parchment to write home.

'Dear mum and dad,

Hogwarts is absolutely wonderful! I've been sorted into Hufflepuff! I've already made two friends, Chase Casper and Destiny Yare! Everyone has been so welcoming and every step in this castle takes my breath away. The sun rises and sets are amazing here. The food even rivals Grans. Please tell everyone how much I truly miss them! I write again soon!

Lots of Love,

Lily'

Lily folded the letter and closed it in an envelope, writing,

Ginny and Harry Potter

She would have to wait for James to send the letter.

As Lily was walked out of the hall a few students were staring at her with curiosity. After they realized she was looking at them they all looked away and began whispering among themselves. The big clock chimed, telling Lily it was 8:30. A half an hour to do whatever. Lily walked back into the hall and grabbed a piece of toast that had appeared. She then went back to the common room. On her way back in she ran into Des.

"Oh, Hey Lily," Des said. They were stuck on either side of the doorway.

"Hi Des" Lily said, stepping aside so she could get out.

"Is breakfast out?" she asked,

"Yep" I was just in there writing some letters.

"Cool, I'm headed there now" Des said,

"I know it's probably inconvenient but, do you want to come with me?" Des asked, "I've got all my stuff here with me so I'm all set" Lily smiled and walked with Des back to the great hall. Lily kept seeing Des look at her face and then look away quickly,

"Are you alright?" Lily had to ask.

"Yep, fine" she said. When Lily and Des got back to the great hall it was much more full. Lily spotted James talking to Chase and sketching a map on a napkin of where he would be going for classes. Lily turned to Des,

"Be right back" she said. Spec was sitting on one of James's books.

"James?" Lily asked sitting next to him. Chase looked at her and smiled, Lily realized that Chase had never truly looked at her, he'd always looked at her ears or her hair, but his eyes never lingered on her face. Lily noticed that no one had manages to look at her face since she arrived.

"Morning Lil's," he said, then he at Lily's face. James looked at her, why didn't the others?

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Yeah, I finally got to write home. Can you have Spec take my letters?" James took the letters and smiled.

"Don't mind everyone else," James said quietly so Chase couldn't hear.

"What?" Lily asked

"Don't mind the staring, they can't help it," James said again. Lily still didn't get it. James rolled his eyes.

Lily still didn't get it.

Scorpius had been watching the exchange and couldn't stand Lily being clueless anymore, not when it meant that she could get hurt.

"Lily," Scorpius started, "People have been trying not to stare at your scars"

"Oh," she said.

"What was that?" Chase asked, leaning in.

"What?" James said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Chase asked,

"Nothing," James said. Scorpius rolled his eyes and went to sit with Albus at the Slytherin table.

Lily began walking back towards Des, but as she started, Chase got up quickly and followed her.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, keeping stride next to her,

"Not at all," Lily said, thankful for the company as people's eyes tracked her across the hall.

When they arrived, Lily took her seat next to Des with Chase sitting on her other side. "Hi," he told Des, "I'm Chase, I'm Lily's friend"

Des looked at him. Gryffindor, tall, skinny, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, button nose, pale skin, small lips, lanky.

"Des," she said, "I'm Lily's friend too, we're roommates" Chase took her in. She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either, she had blonde hair that fell into perfect curls, her nose came to a short point and her eyes were the color of summer leaves. Des held herself defensively yet open. Her face was scattered with freckles but there weren't many of them.

Lily watched her two new friends size each other up, it was rather funny seeing the two of them stare across Lily.

"By the way," Lily started, speaking to both of them, "I don't mind if you stare"

The two looked at her, confused.

"I know I've got scars, but I don't mind if you look"

Des and Chase shared a look.

"How did they get there?" Chase asked

Lily shrugged, "I fell down a tree when I was little"

He grimaced, "Ouch" he muttered

Des nodded, "Does it bother you? When people stare?"

Lily shrugged again, "Not really, my scars aren't too noticeable, most of the time people stare to try to see them. To me they're like little lines on my face, thin white lines that just make me more unique"

Chase and Des nodded, "Cool" they said in unintentional unison. The three of them ended up laughing until they realized that there was 15 minutes 'til classes started,

Lily found her way to the first class fine, Des walking beside her, both girls wearing smiles.

They sat down at a double desk and got out their books for transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall was still nowhere to be seen. A tabby cat came out from behind the front desk and walked around the room. Most students ignored it, but Lily knew who it was. The tabby stopped by Lily's feet and looked at her. Lily reached down and gently rubbed the cats ears. She purred and went back behind the desk, where she transfigured back into McGonagall. There was a collective gasp around the room.

"Hello students!" she said merrily.

The class was wonderful, McGonagall had talked about the mechanics of transfiguration and how matter was transferred or displaced.

Next was herbology, one of Lily's favorite subjects.

"I've never been any good with plants," Des told Lily as they walked to the greenhouses.

"Professor Longbottom is one of the greatest herbologists in the world. If you don't understand herbology from him then nobody can teach you".

Des smiled nervously,

"I don't know if I should be reassured or worried". Lily thought about what she'd said.

"Honestly, I don't either" Des laughed and Lily joined her. They finally got to the green houses. Before they went in, Lily saw a boy walking the other way. He met her eyes and smiled. Lily didn't know why but he made her feel uncomfortable.

"I saw him last night" Des whispered, "He does the same to me".

"He's Ravenclaw, I'll ask Lysander about him," Lily said. As the boy disappeared around the corner the greenhouse doors opened and they were covered in smelly slime.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Lily heard Professor Longbottom say.

"EW!" students were saying. Lily was intrigued by the slime scraping it off her face, she regarded it in mild intrigue.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Giant Dionaea muscipula stomach fluid," he said. Now she was grossed out.

"Why!?" she asked.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," he said, "I was doing an experiment, I think I did something wrong. Muggle plants are so unpredictable". Lily giggled and Neville smiled at her.

"Come in class!" he said. The students walked into the classroom making point to avoid the giant vomiting Venus flytrap by the door.

"Good morning!" Neville said. "Welcome to herbology!"

Potions was next. Hufflepuffs had the class with Gryffindors. The whole class arrived a tad late because they had been trying to clean themselves up. The Gryffindors plugged their noses as the rest of the class walked in. Hufflepuffs had had their other classes with the Ravenclaws but now was the switch. Lily spotted Chase standing by Rox and Hugo near the front.

"Good morning class!" Professor Slughorn said walking into the room. He stopped and sniffed. Then he began to hack.

"What is that smell?" he asked.

"Herbology," a Hufflepuff said. Slughorn made a face and nodded.

"Today we're doing a pairing potion sooooo..." Professor Slughorn looked around the room. His eyes stopped on Lily for a moment and his eyes bulged, then he continued around the room.

"Let's pair with opposite houses," he said. Find a partner in the opposite house. Lily sighed, she'd wanted to be with Des. Des looked the same about the separation.

"Hey," Rox said to Des, Hugo stood behind her and winked at Lily before a Hufflepuff asked him to pair "Do you wanna pair up?"

Rox asked Des

"Sure," she said. Des walked away after her as Lily gave her a thumbs up.

"Hey Lily," Chase said next to her.

"Oh," Lily said, turning to find him standing closer than she had thought, "Hi"

"So, want to be a pair?" Chase asked. Lily nodded and the two sat down at the desk nearest to where Des and Rox were sitting.

"Hey Lily," Rox said, holding out her arm for a fist bump. Lily obliged.

"You know each other?" Des asked, looking back and forth between them.

"We're cousins" Rox explained, "Don't look it do we?"

Lily smiled, not many people would guess that Lily and Rox were even related. Rox had her jet black hair that was pulled into fluffy twin buns. She took after her mother's darker skin tone and deep cavernous eyes.

It wasn't as difficult to believe as when Rox said that Fred was her brother.

The conversation was cut short by the lesson beginning.

"Today we're going to be discussing how different ingredients react together, about detecting poisons and making cures. Now, basis question. Someone has drunk a laced drink. They begin to foam at the mouth and shake. You know the poison is in the stomach, you must act fast". Slughorn waved his wand and 4 ingredients appeared on the desks,

"Which one of these items do you use?" Each ingredient had a brief description on a piece of paper beneath it. Lily instantly knew.

"It's the bezoar" she whispered to Chase.

"You have 20 seconds 'til they're gone," Slughorn said.

Lily's hand shot out and grabbed the bezoar.

"Are you sure?" Chase asked her.

"Positive. My dad used this to save my uncle after he drank a laced drink".

"Cool," Chase said, "You're dad's Harry Potter right?" She nodded.

"Times up!" Slughorn shouted. All items except the one they were holding disappeared.

"Please present the item in front of you". Professor Slughorn walked around the class.

"All but four of you got it correct" He said, "The bezoar. Now I personally know that this is a necessary thing to know. Nearly 20 years ago, one of my students accidentally sipped a laced drink. I was clueless as to what was happening or what to do. I simply stood in shock, the other student with us remembered something from his first year, first class, that bezoars absorbed most poisons. So he ran over to my stash and found a bezoar, he forced it down his throat and saved the students life. Now, I may not be as good as the first man that taught that student but I do know quite a bit. Also, I located a book that had many corrections to the potion recipes that I so commonly used. I've read this book and taken much knowledge from it. I will do my best to have you know all that you can about potions". The class was over and a question that had been bugging Lily finally popped out,

"Chase?" she asked.

"Yeah?",

"If you're muggle born, how do you know about my dad?". Chase looked at her,

"I got a book in Diagon Alley about famous and important wizards. It said it was recently updated with personal interviews from the wizards and witches". Your dad was in there, 20 whole pages about him. Then there was Hermione Granger-Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. Professor McGonagall was even in it. Along with the older witches and wizards like Nicolas Flamel, Bathilda Bagshot, the four founders and a bunch others".

Lily smiled, her dad had a bunch of books that he was in. In fact, along with her autobiography, Aunt Hermione was writing books about the wizarding wars, the people who contributed to it and people who were trying to change the world now. Lily's father was writing his autobiography now but he wasn't anywhere near finished. Her mother already had two books out, one about Quidditch and one about the effect of Horcruxes.

Ginny had devoted two whole years to the study of Horcruxes and had written a book about them and the effect they have on people. Considering she was married to a man who had once been a Horcrux. She had also once spent a whole year with a Horcrux and had almost been killed by it.

Teddy was almost done his book about Lycanthropy and famous werewolves.

Ron had finished his autobiography but was having trouble getting it published because people said it was too graphic.

Ron had told them,

"You must be confused about this. I was it a war, I almost died multiple times, I watched friends die. If it was less graphic there wouldn't be a story" It was published and sold out instantly, however, it was kept in the restricted section of Hogwarts and no person under the age of 15 could purchase it alone in Diagon Alley. Lily couldn't wait for Hermione's book to be told the same thing. And honestly if there was an age limit on Ron's book, Lily's dad's was going to be rated R. Hermione's would probably be rated X. She had, after all, been tortured and had played a much bigger part in the war in Lily's opinion. Harry had been gone for more than half of it. Then Hermione had gone back to finish school and she'd seen the effect it had had on people.

"Hello?" Chase said, waving his hand in front of Lily's face.

"Are you still there?".

"Yep," she said. The more Lily thought about it, her journal would probably never get published, people would have so nobody over the age of 50 could read it, and even then they might think it's too graphic.

"Is your dad writing an autobiography?" he asked. Lily nodded,

"He's been working on it for about 8 years" she answered.

"How close is he?" Des asked catching up,

"He's just got to the middle of the third year," she said.

"Wow," Des said.

"Well, he's also got work, and he's been really busy lately so it might not get published for a while". Lily said.

"Well, he's an amazing man," Des said.

"All the stories you get to hear must be amazing" Lily nodded, he father used to be hesitant about what he told his kids, he didn't know if he wanted them to know all the horrible things but then he found out just how much Lily had been through so he no longer held back the stories.

In the great hall Chase, Des and Lily sat and talked together. Rox and Hugo joined them as well after a while. They discussed the homework they had already been given and how much studying they'd have to do over the years, then Fox landed on Lily's head.

"Fox!?" Lily exclaimed, "What are you doing?" The owl hopped down to the table and nibbled and edge off her sandwich.

"Fox!" Lily said sternly. Then she saw the note attached to his ankle. She plucked it off him and opened it.

"Oh, stop it," she told Fox. "Yes you knew where I was but how many times did you get lost?" she asked the bird. Fox now looked very guilty,

"Yep," Lily said.

"What's that?" Des asked, nodding to the note.

"Dunno," Lily said. She ripped it open and read

Lily,

I know this is a bit obnoxious but Fox definitely needs training. Meet me by the lake tomorrow after classes, I want to catch up on how you're doing.

Lysander

Lily blushed and looked around the hall. She spotted Lysander at Ravenclaw table. He caught her eye and smiled and waved. Lily blushed harder. She turned back around to see her friends smiling at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I get the feeling you might like someone," Chase said. Lily's whole face burned. Des looked at her very closely.

"Yep, you've totally got a thing for Lysander," she said.

"No!" Lily said a bit too quickly. Des looked at her flatly,

"You'd have to be dead to miss it, and even then it would still be obvious," she said. Lily put her head on the table. Fox jumped on top of her head.

Rox laughed, "Oh come on, it's not that hard to miss"

Hugo patted her back, "Don't feel bad, it's not nearly as terrible as when Rose and Scorpius sit near each other"

Lily had to laugh at that, her face sit resting on the table.

The rest of the day's classes went by in a blur, Lily didn't even remember going to bed but she woke up the next morning with the sun and smiled.

This time the day was far to slow. Everything dragged by and Lily wanted classes to be over. When it finally was, Lily told her friends she'd see them at dinner and ran off to the lake. Trying no to get lost, she followed the few signs and the sparse path until she got to the shore and looked around. No Lysander.

"Ly?" Lily said. "Ly, where are you?" she asked.

"You're quick," a voice said behind her. The strange Ravenclaw boy from the corridor was standing behind her.

"What?" Lily asked.

"You know, your friendship with that weirdo is kind of cute, but exploiting it is easy. You adore him, it's not hard to miss. He naturally smiles when you look at him, it's truly endearing. But you see, when they took you back, my mother wasn't done with you". Realization dawned on Lily.

"No!" Lily screamed. She tried to bolt around him but he caught her.

He laughed, "Now, that's what you don't want to do," he said. Lily was running out of idea's so she stomped on the middle of his foot, hard.

"AHH!" he said. "You little beast" Lily broke from his grasp and ran. Behind her, she heard a far to familiar spell.

"CRUCIO!". In the span of a second Lily had pulled out her wand, turned around and yelled a spell her father had been sure she knew how to cast before she'd even gotten a wand,

"Protego!" the spell bounced off her shield and disappeared. The older boy stood in shock.

"How?" he was speechless. Lily turned to run again but she was slow. The boy caught up to her and grabbed her again. Her wand fell out of her hand, but that didn't stop her from fighting. She screamed and kicked and raged and squirmed. The unforgivable curse should have been detected.

"I know you think that I'm going to get caught but you see. I set up borders, protection of a sort. Nobody can see or hear you. He threw her to the ground and pointed his wand at her.

"Suffer now werewolf! Crucio!" Lily didn't make a sound. She suffered in silence. "Scream damn you!" the boy yelled, "CRUCIO!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks and she trashed on the ground. This was it, she was going to die on her second day at Hogwarts.


	6. Ch-6:Dramatic voice the plot thickens!

"Lysander?" Des asked the boy turned around.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Lily?" she asked.

"What?" he asked. He looked at his twin beside him,

Lorcan shrugged, "I didn't do anything"

Des told them how Lily had gotten a note from Lysander telling her to meet him by the lake.

"I didn't send her a note," he said. Des began to panic. Professor McGonagall walked into the hall behind them,

"Professor!"

McGonagall, Des, and the twins ran down the hill to the lake. Running down Lorcan tripped and landed on his face.

"Lorcan come on!" Lysander said.

"Guys!" Lorcan said. He picked up what he'd tripped on.

"Is that?" Lysander's face turned red with anger. Lorcan nodded,

"Her wand"

"LILY!" Lysander screamed.

Lily writhed on the ground below the older Ravenclaw.

"Scream!" he demanded. Lily simply lay in a pool of her own blood, her arm had scraped a rock when he threw her down, the gash now bled onto the stones she lay upon. Then the pain stopped. Lily looked at the boy.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"What?" the boy asked. Then the air around her began to spark. The shield around them exploded and Lily stood up. The air still sparking. The boy started to come towards her but Lily didn't want him to. She curled into a ball of the ground and screamed,

"GO AWAY!"

The sparking around her increased and a chain reaction began. The air caught fire and it was like a bomb went off. Everything was hot and on fire, the air crackled and the sound made Lily's ears bleed. She was protected but everything else was susceptible. When the air cleared Lily couldn't hear a thing. Her ears were ringing louder than standing in a clock tower bell. The smoke cleared and Lily saw Nana Minnie running towards her. She must have been yelling something but Lily still couldn't hear. Lily tried to stand but she only blacked out.

"Lily! Lily!" Lily's eyes opened and she saw Des above her,

"Thank god!". Lily was cradled between Lorcan and Lysanders arms and they were jogging up the hill to the castle. "

I'm fine" Lily said,

"I can walk" Her body felt sore but she'd felt worse. In front of her McGonagall turned around to face her,

"Child you're bleeding" She looked at Lily closer,

"You passed out after the spell, I didn't intend for it to be so extreme," she said.

"Lily, how are you doing?" Lorcan asked.

"I'm fine, really, I don't feel too bad at all" Lily looked at herself, she didn't look too bad.

"You were just tortured on Hogwarts grounds by a man disguised as a student" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Wow," she said, "and here I thought this was all a bad dream"

The twins insisted on carrying her all the way to the hospital wing. they set her down and Lily got a full checkup with Madam Pomfrey.

"I really can't tell you how lucky you are," she said.

"The torture curse drains you, so I expect you to be tired, the cut on your arm will heal cleanly-"

The doors to the hospital wing burst open.

"WHO DID THIS!?"

Lily looked at who had come in and shrunk very low. It would appear that her mother had heard of the incident already. Harry and Teddy were hot on her heels. Lily had never seen Teddy's hair that particular shade of furious before. Ginny continued across the room,

"I WILL RIP THEM APART!"

Ginny stomped her way to Lily's bed and hugged her daughter harder than ever. "I'm so glad you're not hurt badly"

"Me too," Lily said softly, "It wasn't that bad, I was only there for a little over a minute. He said his mother was the one who'd taken me, that he wanted to finish what she started"

Behind her mother, Harry spoke to McGonagall,

"Pansy had kids?" he asked. McGonagall shrugged,

"Apparently," she said. "I'll bring in workers to keep watch and make an announcement at dinner tonight"

James and Albus spent the night at their sister's bedside. They'd been kicked out multiple times but they kept getting in with the cloak. Finally, Madam Pomfrey allowed them to stay if they were quiet. Lily had protested heavily to her temporary incarceration but the nurse had been clear. Lily had told her parents about the attacker but there was no record of him ever coming to Hogwarts, ever being sorted, or ever being sent a letter. He was a mystery. Lily and Des had worked on sketching a face for an hour or two since they were the only ones who had seen him. When they finished Harry had taken it back to the ministry to proceed. Ginny and Teddy had gone home and all was well. Second day of school... Yay.


	7. Chapter 7: A Quick Dip

11 days after the attack; Lily had been working on forgetting the lake ordeal. It was almost completely out of mind.

It had become the buzz of Hogwarts though, everyone whispered about the mysterious figure that had attacked an anonymous student. Lily spent almost all of her time with Des and Chase or Lysander. But she'd grown quiet. She no longer started long conversations and laughed as loud as a horn. James called it her empty days. Where she just walked around like a corpse with a heartbeat. She smiled sadly and hardly spoke, she didn't eat. She didn't live, she just, functioned. She did homework alone and slept soundly. She'd participate in class but other than that she was nowhere to be seen.

It had happened before, when she got back when she was six. Harry had done his best to explain to his sons that Lily was different, that she might act strange, that she may even think she was somewhere else.

A young witch with PTSD at age six, she was a freak.

It was Friday, one of the worst days of the month. Lily was tired and moody. She had deep circles under her eyes that looked like bruises and worst was her short temperedness. At breakfast Alice was sitting next to her.

"So your moms game is coming up" she said,

"So?" Lily said.

"Are you going to ask to go?" she asked.

"Why should I?" Lily said. Des and Alice shared a look.

Hugo, who sat across from Lily, suddenly turned harsh,

"She's your mother, she loves you, you love watching her play, if you were acting anything like normal Lily you'd already know these things!" Lily glared at him.

"What's your problem with me!?" she yelled.

Across the room Albus heard Lily yell. He dropped his head and it thunked onto the table. He repeated this action multiple times before he was sure his head was bruised.

On the other side of the room was Ravenclaw table where Rose leaned over to Lysander, Luis and Molly and said,

"At least she has emotion today".

The four nodded in agreement. Back at Hufflepuff table the argument was drawing attention.

"What are you talking about?" Hugo asked, Lily rolled her eyes and stood up,

"Ever since the lake you've been acting like I'm fragile. Well, SURPRISE! I'M NOT!" Lily screamed. Hugo stood up,

"You're the one that's been pushing everyone away. Maybe you wouldn't be so depressed all the time. All you do nowadays is mope around like the world is against you!"

Lily stomped her foot,

"All you're doing is causing more problems!" she screamed,

Hugo narrowed his eyes,

"Don't throw a hissy fit!" he paused, "I'm not the one with PROBLEMS!".

Lily stood silently for a few seconds, staring at Hugo with flat eyes. The hall was so quiet one could hear a quill drop. Lily's eyes finally swelled with tears.

"You're right" she said, "I shouldn't have pushed you away. But the only way I know how to cope is alone, that's how I had to did it for a whole year. That's how I still do it. And your right about the other thing too. I do have problems". Guilt dawned on Hugo's face,

"Lily I didn't mea-" he was cut off by Lily running from the great hall. The hall was silent again, Hugo was left in the middle of the room speechless. The silence was broken by a slow clap. James stood up from Gryffindor table and walked towards Luis.

"Congrats cuz," he said, "You just made this day ten times harder to get through that it normally is for her". James glared at Hugo and then quickly walked after Lily.

Rose was infuriated at her brother. From the Ravenclaw table she got up quickly, Albus followed her lead from Slytherin. Marching right up to her brother she said "Moron".

Hugo turned around and got a face full of grumpy sister fist,

"I am ashamed of you! But think yourself lucky!"

Then she ran from the hall after James.

"Are you going to hit me too?" Hugo asked Albus,

"No," he said, "But be glad Teddy wasn't here for that".

Hugo stared at Albus, who glared back,

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you'd be dead," Then Albus ran after Rose.

James, Albus and Rose looked for Lily for ages, but didn't find a thing. Des and Chase, on the other hand, knew exactly where she went. The two of them walked down to the lake and saw Lily throwing stones.

"It would be a lot more fun if you skipped them" Chase told her.

"How could he say that?!" Lily yelled, throwing another stone as far as she could. Des sighed, she walked up to Lily and threw her over her shoulder so Lily was upside down.

"We're all here or you" Des said.

"Whether you want us here or not we're going to stick around, some of us are going to be a bit confused as to why you transformed into a lump for a while but we're going to stick around until you turn back into smiley Lily. No matter how long it takes" Des jumped with Lily still on her shoulder.

"And we're also going to try to help you get better faster" Chase told her. Finally Lily started to giggle.

"Okay, okay! Put me down!" Des started walking towards the lake.

"No, don't put me down there!" Des laughed,

"Don't worry the waters warm and the squid is lonely!". Lily was submerged. When she surfaced she was laughing.

Lily, Des and Chase arrived to DA 30 minutes late and trailing water. The dark arts teacher was a man named Hubert Lawson, he freaked Lily out a bit. His bulging eyes that were such a light color it looked unnatural, his oily blonde hair stuck to his scalp and his lips were so thin he hardly had any. He stopped the whole class as the students filed in.

"Ms. Potter!" he yelled, Lily looked up at him as he marched towards her,

"Do you have an explanation as to why you made your classmates late?" Lily opened and closed her mouth at a loss for words.

"It was me Professor Lawson, we took a break down by the lake and I dropped Lily in, then when we tried to get her out we got wet too. We're really sorry" Des said.

The professor glared at her for a few moments before letting them take their seats and continuing his talk about what seemed to be phoenix's. Lily smiled, Fawkes the phoenix, Dumbledore's old pet, often stopped by the Potters house for food and to reincarnate himself. Lily loved him. DA had been the last class of the day, and now it was time for Lily to disappear.

"See you at dinner guys!" Chase said as he ran off to his common room. Lily felt guilty about not telling her friends, but she didn't trust them enough, she hadn't known them for that long either, 13 days she'd been at Hogwarts and someone had already tried to kill her. She made a promise to herself that the rest of her time was going to be fantastic.

But she would have to come up with an excuse someday.


	8. Chapter 8: Family and Full Moons

Lily bolted up the stairs to the Hufflepuff dorms and opened the chest with the bottled potions in it. She then slipped the bottle into her bag along with spare clothes and shoes. She packed a water for the morning and her wand. Finally she opened the door to the common room and… ran head first into James.

"Jaimie!" Lily exclaimed she was the only person who could call him that.

"What are you doing in the dungeons?" she asked him

"Looking for you!' he said quickly, "The sun's almost set. You've got to get going" he told her.

Lily's eyes widened. She'd taken longer than she'd meant to.

"Thanks, James, Bye!" she blurted out quickly as she ran the rest of the way to the doors.

Running down the hill to the whomping willow was a killer of the knees. She chucked a stone at the knot that McGonagall had shown her and missed. It took 3 more tries but it eventually hit. Walking through the tunnel, Lily uncorked and drank the wolfsbane until it was gone. The potion tingled as it went down her throat but she kept going. When she finally got to the shack she fell over onto the bed. Her relaxation didn't last long. Soon the sunlight died and Lily saw the last of the light fade, replaced by the silver glow.

"Where's Lily?" Des asked Lilah after she arrived in the common room.

Lilah shrugged,

"Dunno, she said she'd be here didn't she?".

Des's shoulders slumped, "What if something's happened?" she said, panicking. Then Alice leaned over,

"James said she started to throw up so he took her to the hospital wing. Says she might be there all night, puking". Des felt sorry for Lily, she hadn't seemed to feel good the whole day.

"So did she and Hugo, you know, make up?" Des asked. Alice nodded,

"They argue a lot, it always ends up okay, the two of them are like peas in a pod. A very small, strange pod,"

Des laughed lightly,

"Well, I hope it doesn't happen again" she said. Alice laughed, a sweet sound.

"I think he sorted out the super rough patches. But believe me, there will definitely be more bumps".

Her vision was fuzzy, she was hungry, very hungry. Her vision cleared and her other senses followed. She could clearly smell the damp grass outside and the old wood of the place she was in. She itched to run but she couldn't. Then, unable to hold back the urge, she howled. A long deep sound that carried out beyond the shack.

Lily woke up with the sun. It must have been early because not even the birds were up yet. She couldn't remember the whole night, only bit and pieces. She could remember trying to run around in the small room and running into the wall. Lily looked around, sure enough, a giant hole was in the far wall. She laughed to herself. She remembered that today was her mom's last game with the Harpies. He brothers had asked to go and had gotten permission.

Remembering, she stood up too quickly and got dizzy.

"Wow," she said to herself as she leaned against a bedpost for support. The world spun around her.

Suddenly her arm stung, badly. When she looked down at it she knew it was bad. She must have gotten agitated during the night, restless and hungry. On her forearm was her own bite, at least 20 inch deep wounds.

She shook the buzz away and got dressed, making sure to wrap her arm in an old t-shirt.

After only being awake for an hour she was ready to go back to bed. She hadn't gone right back to the castle, but wandered around the treeline. Lily was thinking of all the friends she had at Hogwarts. Her brothers, her cousins, her best friends and her new friends, she was lucky to know that they stood by her.

Quite suddenly a skeletal house caught her eye. It was right behind the treeline, watching her.

"Hello" Lily greeted it. The horse neighed and shook its head. Lily thought the creature was beautiful, others might have seen it as so different it was ugly, but Lily found it pleasing. Lily walked towards the creature. It backed up quickly. Lily then saw its wings, just as skeletal as its body. Its milk-white eyes watched her as she took another step towards it. This time it didn't move. Lily offered her hands out to the horse.

"It's okay" she said gently, "I'm different too" This time the horse took a step forwards. They came closer and closer until Lily was rubbing the creatures nose. It nuzzled her fondly and purred like a kitten.

"What are you?" she asked it. Lily knew it probably couldn't talk but she felt comfort talking to it.

"That's a thestral" a voice said. Lily turned around and saw her uncle Neville. The thestral was startled and ran off, leaving Lily with Neville. Lily looked at the forest ground,

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be in the forest" she said. Neville smiled at her.

"I don't mind" he said. "Would you care to accompany me back to the castle?" he asked her. Lily nodded,

"Gladly".

He turned around and began to walk.

"Thestrals don't normally socialize. They find humans frightening and strange. Luna used to go out into the forest and spend time with them. Se would pet them and give them meat. They trusted her. They seem to trust you too. They like to nuzzle the different ones. Luna, your dad, you". Lily caught up with him and tried to keep pace with his long strides.

"What is a thestral?" she asked.

"Well, it's a magical creature that can only be seen by those who have seen and accepted death," he told her.

"Oh," Lily said shortly.

"Are you going to Ginny's game tonight?" Neville asked, obviously ignoring the fact that his niece had seen someone die.

"Oh, yes. I was utterly horrid to Hugo the other day but, we made up. Things are probably still a bit rough between us but we can never stay mad at each other. But yes, I'm definitely going tonight, if I can" Lily told him.

"You can. Minerva already wrote out the absent letters". Neville said. He smiled as Lily laughed and had her own small celebration.

"Uncle Neville?" Lily asked, dreading the realization. He looked down at her,

"Yes?" he asked.

"I don't think I've seen anyone die," she said. Neville stopped in his tracks,

"What?" he asked turning to her.

"How can I see the Thestrals if I've never seen anyone die?" Lily asked. She racked her memory trying to remember if she had, but she couldn't find anything. Neville stared at her for a few more moments before shaking it off,

"I don't know. I also don't think it should trouble you for now" he told her.

"Hey, Albus!" Lily called to her brother when she returned to the castle, walking to the great hall.

"Hey Lily, what's up?" he said, pausing so she could catch up with him.

"Do you know anything about Thestrals?" she asked. Albus thought for a moment, his eyebrows scrunched together as he thought,

"Well, I know they can only be seen by those who have seen death, I know that they can fly long distances with little need for rest, I know that they're carnivorous and that they prefer solitude. Other than that, nothing" he told her.

Rose skipped over to them, "Hey red cap" she said to Lily.

Lily smiled at her. Lily had bright red hair, no room for orange or any other color, she was simply red. Rose, on the other hand, had a darker shade of strawberry blond.

"Hey Rosy," Lily said. The two of them got along famously. As children, Rose, Lily, and Hugo had been near inseparable.

Ever since Lily's accident, the three of them had grown apart.

Lily had become closer to Teddy, Albus, and Lorcan. Rose had still remained a good friend, and the Potter-Weasley girls were still, impossible to separate once they were together.

"Anyway," Albus said, "why are asking about Thestrals?"

"Thestrals?" Rose interrupted, "Didn't out parents fly to the ministry of magic in the fifth year on those?"

Albus and Lily stared at Rose,

"What?" she demanded, "I pay attention to my bedtime stories, so what? Why are they coming up now Lily?"

Lily didn't have the courage to tell them the truth,

"No idea," she said.

Scorpius approached and interrupted the awkward silence,

"Hey Albus, your brother is doing something stupid and I'm going to go make an idiot out of him, want to come?"

"Definitely," Albus said, smiling.

"Bye guys, see you later". Scorpius turned around, "See ya round ladies".

Rose blushed almost as deep as Lily's hair.

"What?" Lily asked Rose waved it away, her face returning to normal,

"Nothing," she said, and walked away.

Lily was alone again. While she was walking to her seat at the Hufflepuff table three people ran into her and didn't say a thing. After she sat down, someone sat on her.

"So sorry," they said, "I didn't see you".

Lily turned and let her head fall to the table with a thunk.

On her right side, a deep tan freckled arm leaned against the table, on her left, a chocolaty brown arm with a billion more freckles leaned.

The two of them began talking over Lily.

"Poor little red cap, bored out of her mind because all her friends are peaceful nice people. I think we should interfere"

Lily rolled her eyes so far up in hurt.

"Are you sure? She's an awfully gentle little one, so frail and tiny. Too nice to do what we were thinking"

Lily got an evil grin and sat up, facing her cousins. Fred was on her right, he had lighter skin and red hair, Rox was on her left, she styled a natural afro today.

She made eye contact with both of them before speaking. "Do either of you remember the exploding snaps that were hidden in the Christmas lights? Or the darkness powder in the pepper grinder? Perhaps you'll remember the puking pastels in your toothpaste? All of them were my idea's, James just made sure they were done. And in case you've forgotten, I out prank-ed Uncle George,"

Fred's face drained of all color. "I thought those were Teddy's ideas!"

Lily grinned again. "Ooo, she's good," Rox said, grinning. Fred's dimples deepened, "We've got a plan," he said.

"Oh?" Lily teased, "And what would we be doing?" she asked in her most posh voice. An evil grin grew on the siblings faces. They were 4 years apart but they could have been twins. Roxanne and Fred had both been placed in Gryffindor.

"How do you feel about pranking Molly?".

"But she's a fifth year!" Lily said,

"So am I!" Fred argued.

Lily cocked her eyebrow, "What do you have in mind?"

Lily's arm still buzzed and she could feel the skin tingling around the bite and the blood trying to push to the surface. She rolled up her sleeve to check the bandages Madam Pomfrey had given her and saw that she was bleeding through them… Again.

"Ug," she groaned, she finished hanging the bag of feathers and climbed down.

"Done," Lily told Fred. "Good, Roxy's getting Molly"

Classes had ended a few minutes ago, Lily had to leave for her moms game in 30 minutes. Plenty of time to finish the prank.

Lily hid behind a column with Fred. Roxy came around the corner, skipping casually over the trip line. Molly didn't, so the elaborate scheme began. Molly tripped a line that

trigger a leg-bind curse. She was stuck, when she hopped forward she stepped on a pressure plate and triggered a vat of warm honey that Fred had found in the kitchen. Molly yelped and hopped again, onto the next pressure plate. This time, the bag of feathers flowed down onto the honey and covered Molly entirely. Lily and Fred came out from behind the column laughing. Molly wiped her face and turned to the three pranksters.

"What is wrong with you?!" she screamed. Lily stopped laughing,

"It's just a joke, Molly," she said.

"You jerks! This isn't funny!" she squealed, "Get me out of this!".

Fred was still giggling when professor McGonagall rounded the corner,

"What is going on!" she demanded. Lily shrunk and Roxy looked down at the floor. Fred stopped laughing and scratched his head nervously.

"Miss Weasley, why are you screaming?" The professor demanded.

"Look at me!" she yelled, "They're jerks!". McGonagall shook her head,

"My dear, you are covered in honey and feathers, surrounded my family that loves you enough to have not chosen troll dung and nettles. It will wash off!" McGonagall said. She waved her wand and the bind curse was released.

"Weasley, Potter. This is a warning, do not do this again! 10 points from each of you," Lily nodded and looked at the ground. Molly stomped her feet and stalked away trailing honey.

Lily ran after McGonagall, "Professor!" she called.

"Yes?" McGonagall asked when Lily caught up,

"I need to ask you a few things," she said.

"Of course child" McGonagall.

"Is there anything besides death that can make you see a thestral?" Lily asked. McGonagall stopped,

"Why in the world are you asking me that?" she asked, her voice full of concern. "I can see them, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone die" Lily explain what had happened that morning, when she'd seen the Thestrals. McGonagall thought for a moment, " I don't know that much about Thestrals Lily, they're a confusing beast that not many people can study. I'd ask your godmother, she knows more about Thestrals than anyone else". Lily nodded,

"Another thing" she said, "People say that werewolves are bad people, even when they're in human form, could that have anything to do with it? Could I have hurt someone?" Lily cried.

McGonagall shook her head,

"I'm going to quote Sirius Black, he told you father this, your father told me what he said, I found it extraordinarily wise coming from Sirius.

He said, 'you aren't a bad person, you're a good person that bad things have happened to. We both have light and dark inside of us, what matters is the part we choose to act on'. I can't agree with him more" McGonagall smiled at Lily, who smiled weakly back.

"How do you feel?" McGonagall asked her.

"Like I got stepped on by a mountain troll," Lily said.

"We did have a mountain troll in the castle once" McGonagall said. Lily smiled,

"That's when my dad and uncle Ron officially started their friendship with Aunt Hermione!" Lily said, smiling. McGonagall smiled back, "You'd better go get ready for that game" she said, "but remember, the sun sets and you must be back here"

Lily groaned, last night had only been the first of 3. Lily was thankful that the game was while the sun was up.


	9. Chapter 9: The Last Game

"The Harpies score again! 130 to 90!" The announcer yelled, Lily whooped and shook her fist in the air. Albus clapped politely beside her and James almost fell off the seat he was screaming and cheering so loud. Her Mum rocketed through the air, her quaffle had just gone through the hoop, scoring another point. She could see her family on the high rise seats that they always got. Harry was wearing his stupid Harpies hat and her kids were wearing jerseys Ginny had doodled on.

"GO MUM!" Ginny heard James yell. She smiled to herself and looked back at the pitch. The quaffle was traveling towards her, in between two Cannons players. Ginny lowered herself and waited. Just before the two players passed above, Ginny shot up and jumped off her broom, snatching the quaffle mid-pass and landing right back on her broom. The crowd cheered as Ginny raced to the hoops, she made a clean pass the Fenwick and he scored. Then the crowd screamed with delight.

"Galloway has caught the snitch!" the announcer yelled. Holyhead Harpies win!" Ginny pumped her fists in the air and landed on the pitch. The rest of the team soon followed. "Not too bad," said Fenwick, the team captain. Ginny punched his shoulder, "Shut up, I'm gonna miss you" After her goodbyes Ginny waved and jogged off the field, shaking hands and high-fiving people as she went.

"That was so cool!" James yelled as they stood in a line to get out of the stadium. Albus was talking about how much homework he had and Lily kept squinting. The bright lights and camera flashed were hurting and the loud noise of the crowd was giving her a migraine. Ron was in between everything, his favorite team, the Chudley Cannons, and his sister's team, The Holyhead Harpies, had just played each other. He couldn't decide which team was better. Teddy and Vic were there smiling and holding hands. Lily smiled, she thought Teddy and Vic's dating was the greatest thing ever. Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur were there. Ted's hair was so many different colors it hurt to look at. Lily hung tight to Albus's hand as he walked next to her. James was walking on Albus's other side. Ron and Hermione were talking with Harry about something Lily couldn't hear, but Lily could hardly hear anything. Ginny joined the group just as they left.

Back at the burrow, the adults were talking in the kitchen while the kids got ready to floo back to Hogwarts. Teddy didn't think of himself as an adult so he was with the kids in the living room. Vic was in the kitchen. Teddy was telling a story but Lily was still having trouble hearing. Her ears were ringing and all she wanted to do was sleep. Her arm hurt bad and she was still curious about the Thestrals. But she knew there would be no rest for her tonight.

Unable to cope any longer, Lily pressed her hands over her ears and ran into the kitchen. She was unnoticed at first but soon everyone saw her as she barreled through the adults to her mother. Her hands still pressed against her ears, Lily buried herself in the warmth of her mother's arms.

"Lily?" Ginny said, picking the girl up and setting her on her lap, "What's wrong?". Lily uncovered her ears,

"My head is ringing" she mumbled. Ginny looked Lily in the eyes,

"Does it hurt?" Ginny asked,

"No, my arm hurts" Lily answered.

"Why does your arm hurt?" Ginny asked. Harry came over to sit beside Lily and Ginny.

"I bit it" Lily rolled up her sleeve and peeled her bandages off. Ginny cringed at the deep holes in her daughter's arm and Harry asked Molly for some rubbing alcohol and fresh gauze.

Lily had to bite a towel as Harry poured the alcohol over her arm. She screamed but it was muffled into the towel. She squeezed her mother's hand so tight Ginny's fingers turned white. Grandma Weasley stroked Lily's hair and hummed.

Behind her, Ron unwound the new gauze and Hermione. Victorie had gone into the other room the keep the kids away from the kitchen. Arthur was holding the bucket that the alcohol was running into.

Unfortunately, Lily's brothers were uncontrollable.

James was trying to push through Vic to get to Lily, Albus was covering his ears and sitting on a chair. Teddy was freaking out.

He ran into the kitchen and stopped short at the sight of Lily. Lily was almost passed out, she was still screaming into her towel and Harry was still cleaning the wound. Lily thrashed but Harry kept a tight hold on her wrist.

When Harry stopped pouring Lily's mouth fell open and she collapsed into Ginny's arms.

Shaking but not unconscious, Lily cried into her mother. Ron moved forwards to wrap her arm tightly and Teddy just stood there, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to help Lily but he didn't know how.

Vic grabbed Teddy's hand and led him away from the kitchen.

Soon the Potter kids were back in Hogwarts. Well past 8 but back at last.

Lily's eyes were still red from crying but her bite was almost healed.

God, she loved wizarding healing medicine.

James walked with her as far as he could, to the willow before kissing her head and walking away. She snuck quietly into the shack before downing her potion, gagging.

The moon rose, illuminating the room through the cracks.

Lily managed to sleep through the first part of the night, but it didn't last long. She became restless and agitated, then she started to get antsy. The last thing she remembered was feeling like her heart was beating out of her chest.

The barely risen sun lighted the way for Lily to stumble back to her dormitory. She could hardly comprehend what was happening. She was aware of a dull ache on her chest, but all she wanted to do was sleep.

She barely made it before she collapsed onto her bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"HOLY SHIT!" Lily shot awake. Looking around.

Amanda Wilkes, one of the other girls in the dormitory, stood over Lily.

"What?" Lily asked foggily. She wanted to go back to sleep. Lily Sat up and felt sticky. She looked down and shrieked.

Her bed sheets were covered in blood.

Next to her Des woke up and looked over.

Soon enough, every girl in the dormitory was screaming at the amount of blood on Lily's bed.

The Hufflepuff girl prefect and the head girl soon appeared in the doorway and began shrieking.

Out of everyone in a panic, Lily was quite calm.

In a matter of moments, Professor Longbottom was standing above Lily, Madam Pomfrey behind him.

"I think I'm hurt," Lily said.

"Everyone out" Neville yelled.

"But-" Des protested.

"I said get out Miss Yare!" Neville hardly ever shouted. Something must be wrong.

"Well, this will be tough to explain," Lily said flatly, observing the scratches on her chest.


	10. Chapter 10: The Third Night

"A prank?" Des asked.

Lily was trying to look amused. Neville looked relieved that Lily had come up with the idea.

The two girls burst into laughter and Neville put his face in his hands.

"Who?" Des asked, Lilah and Amanda, listening in.

"My cousin Molly, probably, I pranked her yesterday" Lily explained.

The bandages that wrapped around her chest itched but at least they weren't bleeding through.

Word of the fake blood fiasco spread like fire. Lily had to explain to Molly the details of a prank she hadn't pulled. Des and Chase had learned that Lily was an infamous prankster of the Potter house.

"Hi Amanda," Lily said, sitting down next to her fellow first year. Amanda looked up,

"Oh, hi. Silly that whole fake blood prank, glad it wasn't real" she said.

Lily nodded, "Our family has always loved to prank each other. It used to be Rose, Molly and I, pranking each other all the time. I was the one that it really kept with. I love to prank".

Amanda laughed lightly, she didn't seem to be very comfortable with Lily. She kept glancing away and scooting further down the bench. Des saved her,

"Neat fellow Lysander. Just had a chat, he thinks your amazing, I think he fancies you." Des said.

"Oh, I suppose now that we're over all the pranks and horror we're supposed to chat about boys and gossip about who likes whom?" Lily said. Des laughed, "What else are we supposed to do?" she said.

"Dunno, I hardly know a thing about you. I've got a few inquiries" Lily said.

"Look who's got a big vocabulary," Des said, "Alright, shoot".

"Why was everyone whispering about you when you first got sorted?" Lily asked. It was a question that had been bugging Lily for a while.

"Oh," Des said. The question seemed to have caught her off guard, "Well, my parents were in the prophet a while back" she said.

"I thought they were muggles," Lily said, "Why were they in the prophet?"

Des sighed, "They were the subject of an article, they're squibs you see. They used to-" she stopped herself and took a deep breath, "they were big supporters of Voldemort, in the day. But they ended up selling out other people that worked for him, they sort of got better. But about two months ago, people found out that they were a major part of something really bad" Des stopped.

"What?" Lily pressed. Des looked like she might be sick,

"I didn't know what was going on, if I did I would have said something!" Des was in tears. Lily draped her arm around Des,

"It's okay," she said, "Out with it. You'll feel better"

"They've been leading an anti-werewolf movement. And worse, about 5 years ago they loaned a country home to death eaters so that the death eaters could torture someone." Des wept into Lily's shoulder. "I tried to tell someone but they locked me up in the basement. When they got found out, I told the Aurors everything. My parents are in Azkaban" Des said.

Lily dropped her arm from around her. A country house 5 years ago...

Lily wasn't sure what to do. Was Des to be trusted? A million questions flashed through Lily's head. So she instantly started the questions.

"I thought Voldemort hated Muggles, Muggle-borns and squibs," She said.

"I guess they were very helpful. Lily, didn't you hear what I said?" Des said. She seemed shocked that Lily was so calm.

"Yeah, but you're obviously not your parents," Lily said.

Lily saw how it was hurting her. She saw Des's regret and remorse.

"It's okay" Lily whispered, wrapping her arms around her. Des froze in shock,

"You don't hate me?" she asked Lily. Lily rolled her eyes, "It wasn't your fault. I have zero reasons to hate you. Besides, you're an awesome friend" Lily said.

Des smiled and sobbed at the same time. Lily laughed and hugged her friend again.

Des was too tired to do anything else that day and Lily agreed so they walked back to the common room and sat on the plush cushions.

Des was out like a light, but Lily couldn't sleep.

Lily walked down the halls, exploring the castle. The classrooms were all empty and a few students lingered in the halls. It was a warm day. Not many people were indoors.

"Lily!" Chase shouted catching up with her. Lily had been on her way out to the courtyard. His tall frame lumbered beside her. Lily had to take two steps for his one. "Hey!" she said.

"Where's Des?" Chase asked.

"She wasn't feeling very well so she went back to the common room," Lily said.

"Pity," Chase said. "So, how was your mum's game?"

"It was awesome! My mum is the best player ever. She did this thing, where she jumps and stuff! It was epic!" Lily was quite hyper about the game, but she'd never been the best at explaining. She spent the next 10 minutes talking about it.

Chase was sweet, letting Lily speak and smiling when she tripped over herself. Lily finished her rant and looked at Chase.

"You probably know loads about me, my life is in a newspaper. What about you?" she asked. Chase shrugged,

"I grew up in a flat in London. I played football, I went to school, I had a few accidental magic moments that were described as freaky occurrences" Chase didn't seem to find his life interesting. "

"Tell me more. What was the first 'freaky occurrence'?" Lily laughed.

"Well, the first one, I was about 7, my mum had her boyfriend over. I didn't like him very much. So at dinner, I kept thinking about a cartoon I'd seen, where the person slams their fist on a spoon and the spoon flies up and hits them. Except he never hit his spoon, it just sorts of twirled up and smacked him on the head!" Chase laughed.

Lily smiled at his stories. The two of them soon found themselves on the old wooden footbridge.

"You know, for an old castle, this bridge looks pretty new," Chase remarked.

"It is"

Lily and Chase turned to see James behind them.

"Are you stalking me?" Lily demanded.

James put on a look of phony surprise, "Me?!"

Lily glared daggers at her brother.

"Yes," James said quickly, joining them, "I missed my baby sister"

Lily rolled her eyes, "He's not going away" she told Chase.

Chase nodded, "So what did you mean?" he asked James, "that the bridge is new"

James shrugged, "During the battle of Hogwarts 21 years ago, a bunch of students blew up the bridge to prevent snatchers from getting on the grounds. Professor Longbottom, Mr. Finnegan, they blew it up"

"Who's Mr. Finnegan?" Chase asked.

"He's my dads' friend, he blows things up," Lily said, smiling at Chase's look of confusion.

"What are you guys doing out here anyway?" James asked, "I was actually studying when I saw you pass".

"Why did you stop studying?" Lily asked, her voice cracking.

"Well, I had to make sure my baby sissy was alright," James said in a babyish voice.

Lily punched his arm.

"Ow, watch your strength Lils" James teased.

"No," Lily said flatly.

James leaned out one of the opening, dangerously close to falling all the way out.

"Mum and dad sent letters back" James added, leaning back in, "I've got them in my bag"

Lily was about to ask for them before she remembered that she wouldn't have the time to read them.

"I'll get them tomorrow" she muttered.

Chase stopped looking out the bridge to glance at Lily,

"Are you feeling better?" he asked he suddenly

"What?" Lily was caught off guard by the sudden question.

"Des said you'd been in the hospital wing the 2 nights ago, that's why you didn't come from the common room in the morning," Chase seemed to believe that, so Lily was satisfied with her family's lying skills. She was about to announce that she felt much better before she remembered that she would be unable to enter the castle tonight as well.

Before she could open her mouth, James jutted in with the most perfect excuse.

"Oh, Lily," he started, "that reminds me, Professor McGonagall wanted to see you in her office before sundown. You'd better get going,"

Lily had to stare at James a moment before understanding that she actually was supposed to see the Headmistress.

She bid her brother and Chase goodbye and hurried up to the castle.

When Lily approached the giant gargoyle that marked the entrance to McGonagall's office, she paused.

"Hello?" she said quietly, "Professor?"

Nothing happened.

She knew it required a password, but what? And how could she possibly know it?

An idea wedged its way into her brain, something that might just work.

She'd known that Lily was coming.

"Kitty," Lily said, more loudly so the statue could hear her. Did it hear?

Before she could ponder that question any longer, the creature began to spin, revealing a winding set of stairs following it.

"Well," said a crisp voice from behind Lily, "I'd hoped to run into so you wouldn't have to wait, but it would seem that you know me better than I thought."

Lily turned and found the headmistress standing and smiling a few feet away, her emerald robes lightly brushing the floor.

"Hello Nan- Professor," Lily corrected quickly, "James said you wanted to see me"

McGonagall smiled, "In my office," she said as she put a hand on Lily's back and guided her up the stairs.

The office itself was incredible. Portraits hung all over the place, some sleeping, some missing, some watching carefully. Near the back, Lily could see a portrait of the previous Headmaster Dumbledore, Albus's namesake, hanging on the wall. He watched her intently as she crossed the room. McGonagall joined her and lead her up to the desk, where Dumbledore's painting could now be clearly seen.

"I dare say that you are the spitting image of your father's mother," the portrait said, "Unless I have been transported back in time"

Lily blushed, she'd been told before that she looked like her paternal grandmother, but never by someone who had watched her grow up.

"Thank you," she said shyly. Dumbledore smiled and put his back to watch the conversation.

McGonagall rounded the desk and took a seat, motioning Lily forewards.

"As you can tell, my office is a bit untidy. It gets like this every so often," she said.

"I suppose," Lily muttered, not understanding, "What has that got to do with me?"

McGonagall smiled, "You need a cover story," she said as if that explained everything, it didn't.

"I still don't understand," she said.

"Well Lily, to your friends best knowledge, I have employed you to, once a month, clean my office with me for I yearn for your sweet company. Sometimes it may take two or three nights, and sometimes we stay up all night and get distracted by gobstones or intriguing conversation" McGonagall smiled.

"How am I supposed to clean your office tonight?" Lily asked.

McGonagall rest her head in her hands, "You won't," she explained, "That is the story you are to present to your friends when they question you monthly absences"

"Ooooohhh" Lily nodded, finally understanding.

McGonagall smiled, "You'd best be off my dear," she said politely.

Lily nodded, "Thank you," she said quickly, and walked briskly out the door.

She tried not to draw too much attention as she walked through the common room and into the dormitories.

"Lily!" she heard as soon as she walked in, "Come on, we're playing MSG"

Des, Lilah, Amanda, and the third girl that, for some reason, Lily could never remember the name of, were all sitting in a circle at the foot of Des's bed.

"I'm sorry, I can't," she said, truly sorry, "McGonagall asked me to help her in her office," she told them.

"Oh, well, maybe when you get back?" Des asked hopefully.

"I probably won't be back until really late, she said to expect to be up 'till nearly morning," Lily told them.

The girls seemed disappointed but they said they understood.

Lily nodded and moved over to her bags, rummaging until she finally found the potion she was looking for. Then she turned to leave.

"What's that Lily?" Lilah asked, peeking around to try to see the bottle.

"This?" Lily tried to think fast, racking her brain for anything, "This is…my…"

Lily cursed herself for not knowing more potions. "Wide-eye potion" she blurted.

"Couldn't remember the name for it" she hoped she was a convincing liar.

"I'll probably need it if I'm to stay up so late," Lily turned to leave again before,

"Where'd you get it?" Amanda asked, her straight black bob moving like a cartoon.

"My aunt, she'd use them sometimes to stay up studying. She thought I could use one of two, I guess she was right," Lily looked around the room awkwardly and her eyes settled on the window.

Outside the sky was beautiful. Red, orange and purple striped the sky as the last inch of the sun disappeared behind the trees…

"It's been a clear day, I hope it stays that way," Lilah said, "It's a full moon tonight and my mum just sent me a stellar scope, I want to try it out"\

That snapped Lily back. She had about 20, maybe 30, minutes to get to the shrieking shack.

"Okay, bye guys!" she stammered and rushed from the common room.

Running for the stairs, she rounded a corner and ran head first into Scorpius. He toppled, with Lily landing on top of him. Glass shattered.

"Well, hello," Scorpius said, helping Lily push herself up.

"Sorry Scorp" Lily groaned, "I didn't see you"

He ran his hands through his now messy, blond hair. "Was that important?" he asked, pointing at the shattered bottle on the ground, the blue liquid steaming up and evaporation.

Lily stared at it in disbelief. There was no way she was that unlucky. But apparently…

"I have to go" Lily squeaked, she started to run but Scorpius stopped her.

"What's the rush?" he asked. Scorpius didn't know about Lily, her family had tried to keep her affliction close to home.

He too, believed her scars to be from a fall out of a tree.

"Please, just let me go" Lily tried to pull away but she wasn't strong, and Scorpius wasn't exactly a pushover.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern flooding his voice.

"Scorp!" Albus called from behind, "What's going…" his voice trailed away as he observed the scene.

"I'm late for something" Lily scrambled out, looking at her brother desperately.

"Let her go, she's just being crazy," Albus said, trying to act casual. Scorpius released her arm and Lily rocketed down the hallway, not daring once to slow down or look back.

Rounding the bend she stopped short. There, by the whomping willow, was a group of older Gryffindors, James among them.

The sky had darkened significantly, and Lily was starting to panic.

James hadn't wanted to come outside for the assignment that Professor Longbottom had assigned. Couldn't they have done this earlier?

But no, Corban Lewis, James's roommate had managed to convince the other 3 of the boys to go, so James, not wanting to miss, had come as well.

Something didn't feel right though. He felt as though he'd forgotten something important, but he had his books his quill and parchment, so he disregarded the sick feeling he was getting.

The sun had set and soon the teachers would be out, calling them to come to eat dinner and go to bed. There was still just enough light to see the words scribbled in his notebook so Corban announced that they would be staying until the teachers came.

Along the tree line, James could occasionally see the ministry workers that had been employed after Lily had been attacked.

That sick feeling came back, he was most definitely forgetting something.

"Hey James" Howard Danvers, another roommate, said, "Isn't that your little sister?" James followed Howard's gaze to find Lily staring at the group desperately.

"Dammit" James muttered under his breath.

Lily watched as James shook his head, telling her that there was no way he could get his friends out of there. Lily's vision started to wave back and forth. She'd never been through a transformation without her potion. She had a feeling she wasn't going to enjoy it.

Running out of options, she turned her attention to the dark forest. Well, it was her last option. Knowing full well that James's mates were watching, she took off full speed towards the forest, not slowing down once the treeline passed her, but rather speeding up.

Above her, the night sky was showing its first few stars, and to the east, a faint glow could be seen hiding just behind a mountain.

Lily wondered if she could outrun the moon. If she were to apparate to a place where the moon had just set, could she never turn?

But instead, she tripped over a fallen branch and sprawled out onto the ground.

Not wanting to get up, she lay there and curled into a ball until the bright glow of the moon peeked through the branches and touched her skin.


	11. Chapter 11: The Longest, Strangest, Day

Monday morning began the same way it had for the past few weeks for many people. The students of Hogwarts awoke and dressed in their robes, meandered down for breakfast and then off to classes.

For Destiny Yare, Monday morning began with her waking up to see Lily Potter's empty bed.

Lily had a tendency to get up early and wander around. She'd also said that McGonagall was having her do something, whatever it was.

Some irrational part of her wondered if Lily had lied so she didn't have to be around her. What she had told Lily about her parents would have made other people keep quite a distance. But Lily had seemed to be fine with it. Maybe she was just better at hiding her emotions than others.

Lily wasn't at breakfast, nor did she join Des as she walked to the Transfiguration classroom. When Professor McGonagall walked in, she surveyed her students, her eyes lingering on Des's desk, where Lily had always sat.

By the time lunch rolled around, there was still no sign of Lily anywhere.

"Hey Des," she heard, turning she found Chase smiling at her and approaching. "Is Lily coming?" he asked, sitting down. Des shrugged,

"I haven't seen her all day," she admitted.

"Oh," Chase muttered, "I hope she's okay,"

"Me too," Des admitted.

Lily's eyes fluttered open when the sunlight hit them. A searing pain flared in her head and she squeezed her eyes shut again. The chilly September air prickled Lily's skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her skin. The ground was cold and damp beneath her. Lily moved her arms to block the light but stopped when her chest exploded in pain from the effort. A cry came from her lips and she opened her eyes again, ignoring the pain in her eyes.

She lay naked as a newborn on the forest floor. Blood, dirt, and leaves caked her skin. Lily tried to right herself but every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. Lily cried out again, tears slipping down her face. She had no idea where she was in the forest.

Determined, she gritted her teeth and forced herself into a sitting position. Breathing hard, she steeled her nerves and pushed herself to her feet. She nearly fell before she grabbed the trunk of a tree to steady herself. Looking around, she saw no noteworthy landmarks. Her joints felt like they had been filled with cement. Her chest wounds had reopened and blood ran down her front, dripping onto the ground. There were many more deep scratches and cuts that littered her body, flowing blood. Worst was the deep bites that bleed from her right thigh. It was far too big for her to have ever done. There was something else in this forest…

She managed to release the tree and take a step forwards. The ground swayed and bubbled beneath her and her stomach jumped to her throat.

Lily fell to her hands and knees and vomited. When she regained her senses, Lily could clearly see blood and small bones mixed into her vomit. Unable to control herself, she hunched and vomited again.

Lily ended up sitting on a fallen tree for a fair amount of time. She couldn't remember anything from the night. She could generally recollect a few details, but this time she had nothing.

The sun above her peaked in the middle of the day and Lily decided to start making her way back to the castle. Her arms wrapped around herself for some form of warmth. The knew roughly what direction to head.

After what Lily estimated to be an hour of walking, she came across her clothes, ripped apart beyond repair.

She picked up her shirt that was torn down the back and along the shoulders. Her pants were worse, ripped to ribbons they would have served better as a giants tassel. Lily wrapped her shirt around her chest, tying it tightly. She grimaced as the filthy cloth pressed into her wounds. She picked up the rest of her clothes and continued walking.

Soon she was shivering from the cold. Her feet could barely leave the ground so the scuffed against the ground. She stopped short when she looked up and her vocal chords ceased to work.

She would have screamed, but the shock was just too much. She had to be dreaming there was no way, no possible way…

There before her stood a ginormous solid brown three-headed dog.

So, that was what had bitten her.

Blood loss, exhaustion, and strain weighed down on Lily as she stared into the dog's deep brown eyes. He hadn't moved, nor had Lily. This must be Fluffy. Harry had told her about how he had been released into the forest.

Lily took a wary step back, of course, a twig snapped. That was all it took for Fluffy to become enraged. All the heads growled and barked before charging Lily.

For the second time, Lily firmly believed she was going to die on Hogwarts grounds. She wondered if this was how her parents had felt when they were here; each year more deadly than the next.

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, ready to accept death by Cerberus hound when a new growl joined the mix. There was a loud crashing sound and whimpering.

Lily opened her eyes warily, terrified of what she may see.

Her jaw dropped as she tried to accept the scene in front of her.

Fluffy was being backed away from Lily by a car.

Whatever color it used to be, it wasn't anymore. Now caked with mud and rust, the car emitted a low rumbling sound that resembled a growl.

Fluffy finally conceded the fight after the car hit him for the third time. The giant dog slumped away, still growling.

The car honked after him.

Lily stood dumbstruck, watching as the car reversed to in front of her and popped the passenger side door open.

Unsure of what to do, she climbed in. Praying that the car would kidnap her and lock the doors forever.

The car then sped off, Lily observed it was steering itself. There were no hands on the wheel to her right. The windshield was so shattered Lily couldn't see where they were going. Suddenly, the ground became steadier. The door then popped open, revealing Hogwarts.

"Huh," Lily muttered. But before she could climb out the seat suddenly listed and sprung. Flinging Lily from the car and landing on the ground. She gritted her teeth at the pain and sat up in time to see the car speed back into the woods.

Classes were still in session so there weren't any student outside. Looking around, Lily saw that Hagrid's hut was the best option for her.

She had put on what was left of he pants so she wasn't entirely naked anymore, but walking into Hogwarts looking like a chew toy wouldn't be the best idea.

Lily approached the door of the hut and knocked. There was no answer.

"Hagrid!" she called. After a few more moments of nothing. Lily tried the door; finding it unlocked, she went in. Looking down, Lily saw that she was trailing blood and grime.

Lily observed the interior of the hut. It was small but cozy and warm. A fire sat in the fireplace and Fang lay lazily in front of it, picking up his head when she walked in, but putting it down when she waved at him.

Lily saw a small stack of blankets in the corner and picked the top one up. Hoping Hagrid wouldn't mind, she wrapped herself in the thick quilt. Blood still dripped from her body onto Hagrid's floor. After searching for a little while, she found a small bag with a few medical supplies. She found gauze and tape wrapped her leg and chest, along with a few other cuts that were still bleeding. Lily sat down by Fang to wrap her feet which were cut and scraped from the thorny forest floor. Fang regarded her for a moment before resting his head on her lap and letting out a long sigh.

"Me too buddy," Lily said to him, patting his head as she finished her feet.

She was about to lay back when she came to the awful realization that she didn't have her wand. She'd never found it in the forest!

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she leaned back and rubbed Fang's ears. This was by far, the worst day of her life.

Unable to stop, she drifted into sleep.

"Lily?" the deep voice drew her from her slumber. Fang's heavy head still rested on top of her. Hagrid stood above her, he held a bucket of… Something that didn't smell right.

Lily looked up at him,

"Hello," she muttered shyly.

"What are you doin' 'ere?" he asked, walking towards her. She looked at Hagrid, he looked so worried.

She had the assemble the words in her head before she spoke.

"Well," she started, "I was late to start with, so I was running, then I ran into Scorpius and my potion spilled and then the fifth year Gryffindors were all around the Whomping Willow, so I had to run to the forest," she explained. Hagrid nodded to tell her he was following. So she continued,

"Then I woke up this morning hurt and naked and confused, so I sat until I knew where the sun was going and then went North because that's where Hogwarts is, then I ran into Fluffy, and he wasn't very friendly, so he tried to eat me, but then an old car showed up scared him away and drove me to the grounds before flinging me out and driving away"

Hagrid was looking increasingly surprised,

"Then I thought, 'I can't go to Hogwarts like this!' so I came here because I thought you might be here, but you weren't so I let myself in and found your medical stuff and tried to treat myself. And then I noticed I lost my wand so now I can't take classes, and I'm gonna be expelled for not being responsible!"

Lily had started to cry again, Fang lifted his heavy head and started to lick her face. It stung a bit so Lily assumed there were some cuts on her face.

"Stop that," Hagrid said, although Lily couldn't tell if he was talking about Fang licking or her crying.

She never found out because Hagrid had leaned down and picked her up like she weighed nothing. She grunted a bit at first but then got comfortable as Hagrid started heading for the castle.

"So," he said, smiling at her, "You met Fluffy".

Lily nodded, "He's not too friendly," she told him. Hagrid laughed,

"Not really" he agreed, "I'll tell yer somethin'"

Lily smiled to show she was listening.

"When yer dad was in his firs' year, jus' like you, he wandered somewhere he shouldn't've and met Fluffy" Hagrid smiled.

"I remember this story," Lily said, "Fluffy was your test for the Philosopher's stone, doesn't he fall asleep to music?" she added.

Hagrid laughed, "Yep," he said, "Yer dad's always had a way of gettin' me to say a thing I shouldn't"

Lily smiled, "Well, thank goodness. He wouldn't have gotten far without you"

Hagrid blushed under his thick beard. Lily turned and saw that they were walking into the courtyard. Just a little ways from the Hospital wing. Hagrid took long strides, so Lily was through the doors in no time.

Hagrid explained to Madam Pomfrey what Lily had told him as she undressed and cleaned her wounds.

"I'll check on yer later Lily," Hagrid told her as he left. Lily waved and bit down on her pillow as Madam Pomfrey cleaned another cut.


End file.
